News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Local Contact PHONE
Amy Zubaly (850) 224-3314, ext. 7
September 29, 2014
Celebrate Public Power Week As
We Build Strong Communities
(Tallahassee, FL) With the onset of Public Power Week, the Florida Municipal Electric
Association (FMEA) and its members – Florida’s 34 public power utilities – join more than
2,000 public power utilities across the nation to share the importance of public power’s
contributions to local citizens. Public Power Week, now in its 28th year, begins October 5, and
Florida’s municipal utilities are using this time to remind citizens that your local utility helps to
build a strong community.
“Public power utilities in Florida are dedicated in providing high reliability and promoting
energy efficiency and conservation,” said Barry Moline, FMEA’s executive director. “Public
Power Week is a celebration of locally owned electric utilities and how they help to build strong
communities.”
Municipal utilities take this week to celebrate the strengths of public power. They are driven by
public service, not profit. They involve the local community in their decision making. They are
accountable to their local citizens, not distant shareholders. And they invest in the local
community, helping to provide essential services, such as parks, public safety and roads.
“Municipal electric utilities care deeply about their local community,” said Moline. “We have
the highest reliability rating in the state and actively work with our customers to become as
energy efficient as possible, which helps lower electric bills.”
Operating quite differently than their for-profit counterparts, who must satisfy the economic
demands of global investors, public power utilities are measured by the quality service they
provide local consumers, and by the contributions they make to their local community. Without
question, public power helps to build strong communities (build-strong-communities.com).
Public power utilities have played an important role in Florida’s electric industry for more than
115 years as local engines of economic growth. These local entities brought power to their cities
and towns when others refused, and today public power utilities eagerly partner with their
communities to expand economic development.
With the onset of World War II in the 1940s, an environment of fuel rationing made it critical for
these separate utilities to band together and share energy resources to better ensure reliability and
cost effectiveness.
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This need spurred the formation of the Florida Municipal Utilities Association, which became
the Florida Municipal Electric Association in 1988. Today, FMEA represents the interests of 34
public power communities across the state. Ranging in size from Jacksonville to Moore Haven
and spanning the state from Blountstown to Key West, the state’s public power utilities serve
nearly 3 million Floridians, or 14 percent of the state’s electric market. FMEA members
collectively are Florida’s third largest source of electricity.
Tips for Saving Energy
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Adjust thermostat settings to 68F degrees or lower in winter and 78F degrees or higher in
summer, if health permits.
When you’re not going to be home for an extended period, raise the thermostat setting to
82F degrees in summer or lower the thermostat a bit to 66F degrees in winter.
Close curtains and blinds to help insulate homes and buildings against energy loss.
Avoid using room air conditioners in unoccupied rooms; turn them off when you leave
the room or home.
Run your dishwasher and wash and dry your laundry later in the evening.
Turn off all non-essential lighting and electric appliances, such as pool pumps.
Turn off lights when you leave a room or when they aren’t needed.
Shower later in the evening or early in the morning.
Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible.
If someone in your home is dependent on electric powered, life-sustaining medical
equipment, check back-up facilities and notify your local utility of special needs.
Consider cooking with a microwave oven, which uses less than half the power of a
conventional oven and cooks food in about one-fourth the time.
About Public Power Week: Public Power: An American Tradition that Works is the continuing
theme of the 28th annual celebration of more than 2,000 public power communities nationwide.
Please join FMEA in celebrating Public Power Week, October 5-11.
About FMEA: The Florida Municipal Electric Association (FMEA) represents the interests of
34 public power communities across the state, which provide electricity to more than 3 million of
Florida’s residential and business consumers.
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