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JEA Partners with other Utilities to Build North Florida Power Project
Jacksonville, FL (June 2, 2005) - To meet projected needs for energy in the Jacksonville area after 2010, JEA is working with two other Florida utilities to construct a $1.4 billion, 800-megawatt power plant in north Florida.
JEA, working in partnership with the Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA), a wholesale electric supplier based in Orlando, and the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which serves parts of Orange and Osceola counties near Orlando, is seeking a 2,500-acre site in north Florida for the project.
The North Florida Power Project is expected to create up to 1,500 construction jobs and about 150 full-time jobs when it goes into operation in 2012.
"The utilities' group selected JEA as project developer for the plant and JEA will receive 236 megawatts of the plant's output," said JEA CEO Jim Dickenson said. "While we have concentrated our site efforts in Taylor County, we are also looking at other potential locations throughout north Florida."
In addition to size, the optimum location would have access to rail, electric transmission corridors, offer an adequate water supply, would meet regulatory and environmental requirements, and be compatible from a land-use standpoint. JEA's Real Estate Department is currently reviewing potential sites.
"Wherever we end up, we will work very closely with the community to share information, respond to community interests and demonstrate that we can be a good neighbor and an asset to the community," Dickenson said.
Electric industry standards in Florida suggest that state utilities have a 15 percent reserve generating capacity. Based on future electric demands, JEA currently projects that it will fall below that percentage in about seven years.
JEA's partners in the project share the same need in meeting future electric demands.
Florida (excluding the panhandle area) had a 45,578-megawatt generating capacity in 2004 - and construction is planned for more than 13,000 additional megawatts through 2012 to meet the state's projected energy demand, according to the Florida Reliability Coordinating Council.
By partnering together, each utility owner can have access to the lower unit cost of constructing a large power plant, Dickenson said.
To diversify their fuel supplies, have a secure fuel supply and avoid the volatile price swings of natural gas, the partner utilities selected coal as the fuel source for the new plant.
"We are going to use the most advanced technologies to ensure that it will be one of the cleanest plants of its kind in the country," said Mike Lawson, a JEA employee selected as project manager for the new plant. "We are committed to minimizing emissions and protecting the environment. In fact, about one-third of project cost, more than $450 million, will be spent to install the best environmental control technologies available."
Lawson has been with JEA for 21 years. He worked on the construction of the St. Johns River Power Park and recently as project manager for the Brandy Branch Combined Cycle Plant, two of JEA's three largest power plants. He also served as Site Construction Manager at JEA's Northside Generating Station.
The construction start on the project will be contingent upon site selection.
In addition to the three utilities involved to date, the City of Tallahassee is currently examining a potential role to participate in the project.
For more information about site criteria, people should contact the JEA Real Estate
Division at 904-665-4957.
Program partners are currently developing a project website and plan to establish a toll-free phone number to receive and answer questions from the public about the North Florida Power Project.
JEA is the eighth largest community-owned electric utility in America, providing electric, water and sewer services to more than 750,000 accounts in Northeast Florida.
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