Joint Purchasing Project has enabled municipal utilities to bid together since 1994

ORLANDO, Fla., July 21, 2014 – Florida’s municipal electric utilities save on supplies and streamline purchasing thanks to a program founded 20 years ago today.
Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA) member utilities created the Joint Purchasing Project on July 21, 1994, to allow municipal utilities to jointly purchase common utility-related goods and services. Benefits of the project have included:

• Simplifying purchasing for member utilities: FMPA’s Joint Purchasing Project has jointly issued 188 bids for its members. Many bids include multiple goods or services within a certain category. More than 50 bids have been extended from their original time span. By reducing the number of bids members have to issue individually, the program reduces personnel costs related to purchasing and simplifies utility management for smaller utilities.
• Reducing supply costs: Bidding as a group gives utilities of all sizes the purchasing power of a larger utility, reducing costs for all participants. Prices bid through the Joint Purchasing Project are available to every FMPA member at any time.
• Facilitating communication and sharing: Project participants can connect through online purchasing software that enables members to see each other’s inventories to quickly exchange goods in case of a shortage or emergency.
• Establishing member services at FMPA: The Joint Purchase Project was FMPA’s first member service, laying the foundation for the more than two dozen programs that FMPA now offers

“The longevity of FMPA’s first member service speaks to its value,” said FMPA General Manager and CEO Nicholas P. Guarriello. “Collaboration on common utility functions makes as much sense today as it did in 1994.”

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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.