Florida Municipal Electric Association
The Florida Municipal Electric Association (FMEA) is the non-profit trade association representing the unified interests of Florida’s 33 public power communities. FMEA provides its members with government relations, mutual aid coordination, communications, education, and networking opportunities. The association is at the forefront of energy industry news and trends and supports its member utilities by promoting public power and delivering superior services through advocacy, mutual aid, education, and collaboration. Based in Tallahassee, FMEA was established in 1942 in response to WWII fuel shortages and is now the statewide trade association and voice for Florida’s  33 municipal electric utilities, serving more than three million residential and business customers in the state and employing more than 5,000 Floridians. FMEA’s membership categories, along with the 33 municipal electric utility members, also include associate member companies, affiliates, and public agencies. FMEA is governed by its board of directors and its members. Member Services. Government Relations: FMEA has a broad legislative team actively representing public power’s interests on a wide variety of state and federal legislative and regulatory issues. Mutual Aid Coordination: FMEA serves as the mutual aid coordinator for our member utilities, arranging assistance from other  utilities to provide help following a storm, hurricane or other emergency situation. FMEA also serves as the statewide mutual aid coordinator as part of the American Public Power Association mutual aid process. Information Clearinghouse: FMEA functions as an information clearinghouse for industry news and trends, providing access to a comprehensive news archive, electric industry statistics, legislative and regulatory updates,  and technical information for individual utility members. Industry News: Through a weekly Headline News email, FMEA provides a comprehensive listing of industry related news articles. Although the news concentrates on Florida’s electric and energy industry, pertinent national stories are also  run featuring governmental and regulatory news, technical and utility operations news, and environmental impact news. "Relay" Magazine: FMEA’s quarterly "Relay" magazine provides a close-up look at Florida’s public power utilities highlighting their communities, employees, projects, and events. . Relay covers the latest industry trends, technical features, interviews with top industry professionals, and comprehensive feature stories on current topics of interest. Relay is Florida’s only electric utility industry magazine and has a readership of more than 1,500. Florida Electric Bill Comparison: FMEA conducts a monthly comparison of electric bills for Florida’s municipal and investor-owned electric utilities .. . The monthly report provides a fair comparison of customer bills served by different utilities. The report includes utility rates, average franchise fees of 6 percent, and local payments in lieu of taxes Lineman Assistance Fund: The FMEA Lineman Assistance Fund provides FMEA member utilities’ lineworkers with emergency financial assistance as they deal with medical conditions. The Fund assists linemen and their families when an on-the-job injury creates a special need. Professional Network: Through member surveys, roundtables, conferences, and other events, FMEA provides opportunities for its members to network with each other, sharing information, best practices and lessons learned . FMEA also produces a monthly bill comparison report that includes information from Florida’s municipal and investor-owned utilities. It compares utility bills for residential, commercial and industrial electric customers categorized by consumption in 15 categories. This information is available to the public on its website. Events. FMEA offers many conferences, roundtables, workshops, and training programs for member utilities. FMEA hosts five signature events throughout the year: The FMEA Annual Conference, which brings top industry speakers, informative workshops and discussion groups together for utility managers and CEOs, city managers and directors, local policymakers and elected officials from public power municipalities , and other electric utilities. The Energy Connections Conference & Trade Show, a two-day event delivering cutting-edge information to members on how to improve their day-to-day business operations, focusing on customer service, safety, utility operations, cybersecurity and technology, and more. The Florida Lineman Competition, an annual day-long event that pits utility lineman teams from all over the state against one another in competitions demonstrating their skills, knowledge and teamwork. The FMEA Hurricane Forum, a one-day educational event focusing on hurricane preparedness and response, mutual aid, FEMA issues, and other disaster and emergency response related  topics. The  FMEA Legislative Rally, a convening of FMEA members in Tallahassee during Florida’s annual legislative session to discuss legislative proposals affecting public power communities and to advocate these critical issues before the legislature.