Utilities celebrate 30 years of power supply independence and affordable power

ORLANDO, Fla., May 3, 2016 – Florida cities enjoy reliable, affordable power today thanks to the Florida Municipal Power Agency’s (FMPA) All-Requirements Project, which began supplying wholesale power to several Florida cities 30 years ago.

FMPA’s All-Requirements Project is a 1,200 MW system serving 13 cities throughout Florida. The cities include Bushnell, Clewiston, Fort Meade, Fort Pierce, Green Cove Springs, Town of Havana, Jacksonville Beach, Key West, Kissimmee, Leesburg, Newberry, Ocala and Starke.

Since beginning operation on May 1, 1986, FMPA’s All-Requirements Project has given members control of their wholesale power supply and enabled municipal electric utilities to work together for their mutual benefit. At the time, power costs were high and there was no competition in the Florida wholesale power market, which was dominated by investor-owned utilities.

“FMPA’s All-Requirements Project helped Florida cities gain control of their power supply, while protecting the interests of their customers and community,” said FMPA General Manager and CEO Nicholas Guarriello. “Municipal utilities now are able to provide their communities with reliable power in an efficient manner because the cities are working together.”

During the past 30 years, All-Requirements’ has helped lower power costs, which has saved hundreds of millions of dollars shared by all Florida municipal utility customers. FMPA’s wholesale rates are competitive and a number of the cities it serves maintain retail rates among the lowest in Florida. ARP power costs decreased in fiscal 2015 by 10 percent, and costs are down a total of 30 percent since 2009.

Today, as much as ever, the benefits of the All-Requirements Project are important. For 30 years, participants have worked together to provide reliable, low-cost wholesale power and related services for the benefit of their communities. Ultimately, this combination serves the highest goal of making the communities better places to live and work.

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Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA) is a wholesale power company owned by 31 municipal electric utilities. FMPA provides economies of scale in power generation and related services to support community-owned electric utilities. The members of FMPA serve approximately two million Floridians.