Trouble viewing this email? View as Webpage

September 2, 2022

FMEA Members,

We are officially halfway through the 2022 hurricane season. This year marks the first time since 1997 that we didn’t see a named storm in August. While it has been a quiet season so far, predictions still indicate an above-average season so continue to remain vigilant and prepared. As a reminder, FMEA has many disaster-related resources and tools available on its website.

August 26^th was the 10^th anniversary of Florida Lineworker Appreciation Day. To celebrate FMEA and FMPA launched a social media campaign to honor Florida’s public power lineworkers. The campaign featured videos of lineworkers from Florida’s 33 public power communities and focused on different aspects of “line life.” Florida Lineworker Appreciation Day was created to show gratitude to the men and women who risk their lives daily to ensure reliable delivery of electricity throughout Florida. It was designated by the Florida House of Representatives in 2012 in memory of Marc Moore, a lineworker for Lakeland Electric, who was tragically killed while serving his community in 2002.

Florida Congressmen Neal Dunn and Darren Soto were recognized during FMEA’s Annual Banquet with the prestigious Friend of Florida Public Power Award. Introduced in 2020, the Friend of Florida Public Power Award is a high honor bestowed on an individual or organization whose efforts, support, and leadership have significantly benefited Florida Public Power and Florida’s Public Power communities, utilities, and/or employees. Congressmen Dunn and Soto played an instrumental role in passing the FEMA Loan Interest Payment Relief Act in the U.S House of Representatives, which provides financial assistance to local governments as reimbursements for qualifying interest on disaster-related loans. While neither Congressmen were able to attend the Annual Banquet in person, Mr. Dunn and Mr. Soto both sent a video message in recognition of the award. Recently, FMEA’s Nicole Albers and I had the distinct pleasure of presenting the awards to these honorees in person. FMEA, along with Tony Guillen, general manager of electric and gas for the City of Tallahassee, proudly welcomed Congressman Dunn and several of his staff to FMEA’s headquarters in Tallahassee. In addition, Nicole and I were honored to join Kissimmee Utility Authority’s Board Chair Ethel Urbina and General Counsel Grant Lacerte on a visit with Congressman Soto in his district office in Kissimmee.

This week FMEA, along with the Florida Municipal Power Agency, hosted our inaugural Utility Finance Roundtable, with more than 30 attendees from a dozen utilities participating. FMEA-hosted roundtables provide a forum for Florida public power employees to exchange information and share best practices, policies, procedures and other information. It’s a great way to learn how other utilities are handling similar issues and get questions answered. FMEA roundtables are FREE of charge for FMEA members., but registration is required so we know how many to plan for. Please make note of the following upcoming FMEA roundtables and register to join us!

Registration and sponsorship opportunities are now open for FMEA’s Energy Connections Conference & Tradeshow at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Orlando, November 2-3. The event brings together a broad cross-section of public power employees from customer service, safety & training and electrical operations personnel and includes a trade show featuring products and services from many vendors that do business with Florida’s electric utilities. Last year the trade show was sold out, and we are expecting to reach capacity again this year. Make plans to join us for this great event!

FMEA is excited to announce the 2022 Florida Public Power Cybersecurity Summit, co-hosted by the Florida Municipal Power Agency on November 2-3 and held concurrent with FMEA’s Energy Connections Conference at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Orlando. The event will bring together municipal and electric cooperative cybersecurity professionals from IT, OT, and management as well as industry-leading experts to discuss information-sharing opportunities, discover tools, grants, and opportunities for municipal entities, improve incident response capabilities, exchange best practices and learn about new trends in cybersecurity. The event will feature two full days of events, including DOE’s Cyber Strike Workshop, general and breakout sessions as well as a trade show exhibition. Registration is open and sponsorship opportunities are available.

FMEA continues to be active across many fronts on raising awareness on critical electric utility supply chain shortages. Last month, Florida Senator Marco Rubio announced the introduction of legislation to establish an energy grid product manufacturing loan program at the U.S. Department of Energy to expand domestic production. The new loan program would be fully paid for by the rescission of unused appropriations, as recommended by the Government Accountability Office. This program would finance $8 billion in loan guarantees for the re-equipping, expansion, or establishment of domestic energy grid product and component manufacturing facilities in the United States. For more, read Sen. Rubio’s piece in RealClear Florida on fixing Florida’s energy transformer shortage. Recall, as mentioned in a previous update, nearly Florida’s entire congressional delegation sent a letter to FEMA administrator Criswell raising the issue of supply chain shortages for critical electric materials, and urging FEMA to employ mitigation efforts with the local Florida electric community to ensure that transformers, bare wire, meters, and other electric grid equipment will be available ahead of the first disaster.

President Joe Biden signed the budget reconciliation Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) into law on Aug. 16, 2022, following its passage along party lines in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. This expansive legislation is the result of many months of negotiations among Democrats to advance some of President Biden's highest policy priorities. The IRA makes major investments in climate change, domestic energy production and manufacturing, and healthcare, while aiming to reduce the budget deficit. Included in the bill are refundable direct pay tax credits for public power, which for years have been a top priority for FMEA and our members. The bill also contains several rebates and tax credits to consumers for purchases of energy efficient and electric appliances, clean vehicles, and other energy efficiency improvements. FMEA provided members with a summary of energy-related provisions of the bill.

FMEA continues to work with Baker Tilly to provide funding updates from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) for FMEA members. FMEA is sending an updated funding matrix to members every week or two, along with providing the latest information on our website. If you would like to be added to the IIJA distribution list, please email us. Currently, there are only two of 23 potential funding opportunities open for applications, but many more will be opening over the next several months and into next year. If you haven’t done so already, we recommend that you make sure your utility is ready to apply for federal grants by following the steps outlined in our Grant Readiness Flyer.

Florida Public Service Commission members Gary Clark and Gabriella Passidomo were among six candidates forwarded to Gov. Ron DeSantis this week as he prepares to make two appointments to the utility regulatory panel. Two seats will open in January, when the current terms of Clark and Passidomo expire. They are seeking reappointment. The Florida Public Service Commission Nominating Council interviewed seven candidates for the $135,997-a-year jobs before forwarding six names — the minimum required.