Fact Sheet

FMPA is …
Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA) is a nonprofit, joint action agency formed by 30 municipal electric utilities. FMPA is a public agency, whose primary purpose is to develop competitive power supply and related services.

Joint Action
Each utility is locally owned and operated, however, municipal utilities share common concerns, which can best be solved by working together. For example, by coordinating the power supply needs of several municipals, a larger more efficient plant can be built and other economies of scale help reduce the cost of power. In addition, through joint action, municipal utilities can obtain power from several power plants rather than depend on the operation and cost of fewer plants.

Authority
Local governments are authorized by Florida Statutes to enter together into mutually advantageous agreements, which create a separate legal entity. FMPA was formed in 1978 as one such governmental legal entity. FMPA is specifically authorized under the Joint Power Act to undertake joint projects for its members and to issue tax-exempt bonds and other obligations to finance the costs of such projects. FMPA is also authorized to implement a pooled financing program for utility-related projects of FMPA and its members.

Membership
Thirty municipal electric systems, serving approximately 2 million Floridians, are members of FMPA. Each member appoints one representative to FMPA’s Board of Directors, which governs the Agency’s activities.

Finances
Due to the diverse needs of municipal electric systems, FMPA was established as a project-oriented agency. Under this structure, each member has the option whether or not to participate in a project. Members may join more than one project; however, each project is independent from the others, so no revenues or funds available from one project can be used to pay the costs of another project.

Projects
FMPA has five power supply projects and one pooled financing project. The Agency supplies all the power needs for 15 of its members and some of the power needs for five of its members. Some members do not currently participate in a project. FMPA supplies more than 40% of its members’ power needs.

Special Projects
From time to time, FMPA has formed special projects to serve the needs of all or some members. Examples of these projects include, but are not limited to:

Legal & Regulatory Matters: FPL Litigation, FPL Rate Case, FPC Rate Case, FPL Open Access Transmission Tariff, FPC Open Access Transmission Tariff, FPC Rate Limitation Refund

Member Services: Joint Purchasing, Energy Services, Benchmarking, Peer Review, Fiber Optics/Telecommunications Work Group, Rate Analysis, Title V Compliance

Financial Services: Crystal River Unit 3 Decommissioning, Joint Owners Project (audit of billings from jointly owned generating units to assure compliance with participation agreements), Formula Rate Audit

Staff
FMPA has a staff of approximately 60 (approved, full-time positions). In addition, FMPA has a few part-time positions and a few contract positions.