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News
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FMPA
Partners with other Utilities to Build North Florida Power
Project
ORLANDO,
Fla., June 2, 2004 – To meet projected needs for electricity
in Florida after 2010, Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA)
is working with other community-owned electric utilities to
construct an 800 megawatt power plant in North Florida.
In addition
to FMPA, the utilities involved in the North Florida Power
Project include JEA, a retail electricity supplier in Jacksonville,
Fla., and parts of three adjacent counties, and Reedy Creek
Improvement District, which serves parts of Orange and Osceola
counties near Orlando. JEA has been selected as project manager.
“By
partnering together, each utility owner can have access to
the lower unit cost of constructing a large power plant,”
said FMPA General Manager and CEO Roger Fontes. FMPA, the
largest individual participant, will receive approximately
300 megawatts of the plant’s output.
The three
utilities are seeking a 2,500-acre site in North Florida for
the project. “After a statewide search for suitable
sites, we have concentrated our efforts on an area near Perry,
Fla., in Taylor County. This area is our preferred choice,
but we are looking at other sites in North Florida,”
Fontes said.
In addition
to land availability, the optimum location needs to have access
to rail and electric transmission corridors, offer an adequate
water supply, meet regulatory and environmental requirements,
and be compatible from a land-use standpoint. JEA’s
Real Estate Department is reviewing potential sites.
“Regardless
of where we locate the plant, we’re committed to being
a good neighbor and a good community partner,” said
Fontes. “We will work closely with the local community.”
FMPA has
a significant need for new power generation. During the next
10 years, FMPA requires approximately 1,200 megawatts of new
generating capacity to keep pace with the projected growth
in electricity usage, to replace expiring purchase power contracts
and to replace aging generating units.
The utilities
partners evaluated the power generation options and decided
to develop a coal-fueled facility in order to diversify fuel
dependence, have a secure domestic fuel supply and avoid the
volatile price swings of natural gas.
The proposed
800 megawatt unit is expected to cost $1.4 billion. It would
create up to 1,500 construction jobs and about 150 full-time
jobs when it begins commercial operation in 2012.
Fontes
said, “FMPA is planning to add a significant amount
of new generation. Some of it will be fueled by natural gas;
however, relying too much on natural gas creates problems
for our customers. We need to reduce our growing dependence
on natural gas as a fuel for generating electricity. We’ve
looked at the options, and we think coal is the best choice
for some of our new generation. Coal is abundant, affordable
and, with modern environmental control technologies, cleaner
than many older natural gas- and oil-fired power plants that
are still in use.”
“We
will use the most advanced technologies to ensure that it
will be one of the cleanest plants of its kind in the country,”
said Mike Lawson, a JEA employee selected as project manager
for the new plant. “We are committed to minimizing emissions
and protecting the environment. In fact, about one-third of
project cost, more than $450 million, will be spent to install
the best environmental control technologies available.”
Lawson
has been with JEA for 21 years. He worked on the construction
of the St. Johns River Power Park and recently as project
manager for the Brandy Branch Combined Cycle Plant, two of
JEA’s three largest power plants. He also served as
site construction manager at JEA’s Northside Generating
Station.
Development
of the North Florida Power Project will be contingent upon
site selection and securing the necessary approvals prescribed
by Florida’s power plant licensing law.
In addition
to the three utilities involved to date, the City of Tallahassee
Electric Utility is currently examining potential participation
in the project.
The utility
partners are developing a project website and plan to establish
a toll-free phone number to receive and answer questions from
the public.
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Florida
Municipal Power Agency (FMPA) is a wholesale power company
owned by 29 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 1.8 million Floridians. FMPA’s members
include Alachua, Bartow, Bushnell, Chattahoochee, Clewiston,
Fort Meade, Fort Pierce, Gainesville, Green Cove Springs,
Havana, Homestead, Jacksonville Beach, Key West, Kissimmee,
Lake Worth, Lakeland, Leesburg, Moore Haven, Mount Dora, New
Smyrna Beach, Newberry, Ocala, Orlando, Quincy, St. Cloud,
Starke, Vero Beach, Wauchula and Williston. Additional information
is available on the Internet at www.fmpa.com.
# # #
FMPA
Contact:
Mark McCain
Public Relations/Public Affairs Manager
407 355-7767
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