News Releases

FMPA to Build New Electrical Power Plant

ORLANDO, Fla., March 26, 2007 – The Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA) governing body has decided to proceed toward building a new natural gas-fueled electrical power plant to serve increasing demand for electricity in 15 Florida cities.

The Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA ) is a wholesale power agency owned by municipal electric utilities in Florida. It supplies all the wholesale power needs of Bushnell, Clewiston, Fort Meade, Fort Pierce, Green Cove Springs, Havana, Jacksonville Beach, Key West, Kissimmee, Lake Worth, Leesburg, Newberry, Ocala, Starke and Vero Beach.

“Additional generating capacity must be added by 2011 to provide adequate electricity in our members’ communities,” said Roger Fontes, FMPA’s general manager and CEO. “Our investigations show that constructing this proposed plant is the most cost-effective option.”

As part of its investigation, FMPA requested competitive power supply proposals but received only three responses. None of the proposals were able to provide both the amount of power required and firm transmission rights to deliver the power to FMPA’s member cities.

“The lack of adequate power purchase options signals a significant change in Florida’s wholesale power market during the last 10 years,” said Fontes. “The lack of excess generating capacity in the market means that opportunities to purchase power are simply not as plentiful or economical as they once were.”

FMPA’s investigations also considered the role of energy conservation. FMPA and its member cities offer a variety of energy conservation programs. However, the projected need for power is too large to be offset by voluntary conservation alone.

The new power generator is expected to feature the same technology and design as FMPA’s Treasure Coast Energy Center Unit 1, a 300 megawatt natural gas power plant currently under construction in St. Lucie County, Fla., near the city of Fort Pierce. A location for the new facility has not yet been selected.

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Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA) is a wholesale power company owned by 30 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 1.9 million Floridians. FMPA’s members include Alachua, Bartow, Blountstown, 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
Assistant General Manager,
Public Relations and Human Resources
(407) 355-7767