FMEA Honors Florida Public Power Utilities with “Restoring Communities Awards”

Tallahassee, Fla. — The Florida Municipal Electric Association (FMEA) today honored 10 Florida Public Power utilities with “Restoring Communities Awards.”

FMEA recognized utilities for either providing or receiving mutual aid following significant weather events or emergencies or providing exemplary service to their community following emergency situations. The awards were presented at FMEA’s Board of Directors meeting in Tallahassee.

In 2021, these utilities helped to safely restore power in Louisiana and Florida following severe weather, including Winter Storm Uri and Hurricane Ida, as well as other damaging events.

Receiving awards were:

• City of Bartow
• City of Fort Meade
• City of Tallahassee
• Fort Pierce Utilities Authority
• JEA
• Keys Energy Services
• Kissimmee Utility Authority
• Lakeland Electric
• OUC (Orlando Utilities Commission)
• Utilities Commission, City of New Smyrna Beach

“While providing mutual aid last year, Florida Public Power crews faced extreme weather conditions from bitter cold snow and ice to the brutal heat of August in the South. But weather conditions are never what’s on their minds. They have a genuine desire to help those in need and will do whatever it takes, in all sorts of conditions, to get the power back on,” said Amy Zubaly, FMEA Executive Director. “That is one of the greatest strengths of public power — communities serving other communities and people helping other people. We are so proud of our award recipients and the crews who answered the calls for aid.”

Mutual aid agreements enable electric utilities to call on each other for skilled emergency workers and supplies. Mutual aid can extend beyond fellow public power utilities to both rural electric cooperatives and investor-owned utilities.

Public power utilities across the country benefit from the strong network of mutual assistance partners through the American Public Power Association. These connections have created a reliable system where member utilities both request and offer assistance when there’s a need. FMEA is proud to serve as the mutual aid coordinator for Florida’s 33 public power utilities.

For more information on FMEA and Florida’s Public Power communities, please visit www.flpublicpower.com.

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The Florida Municipal Electric Association (FMEA) represents the unified interests of 33 public power communities across the state, which provide electricity to more than 3 million of Florida’s residential and business consumers.