{"id":418695,"date":"2026-10-04T20:48:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T20:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/418695\/"},"modified":"2026-10-04T20:48:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T20:48:10","slug":"florida-publicly-owned-utilities-mark-national-public-power-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/418695\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida publicly-owned utilities mark National Public Power Week"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Florida Municipal Electric Association (FMEA<\/a>) is using National Public Power Week<\/a> to raise awareness of the services its members provide across the state.<\/p>\n

The weeklong observance, an initiative of the American Public Power Association, runs through Oct. 10. It celebrates the role community-owned utilities play in the places they serve.<\/p>\n

FMEA officials say many Floridians overlook the electric and other utility workers who keep the state running.<\/p>\n

\u201cPublic power is a longstanding American tradition built on one simple principle: serving the community,\u201d said Amy Zubaly, FMEA Executive Director.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor nearly 150 years, public power utilities have provided electricity to local customers on a not-for-profit basis. The model puts customers first, with affordable rates, reliable service, and a commitment to meeting the needs of the communities they serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

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FMEA says publicly owned utilities cost customers less. According to the association, the average monthly bill for a customer of a Florida public power utility is about $20 lower than for customers of other utilities.<\/p>\n

The association also says public power is generally more reliable because municipal utilities invest millions of dollars in distribution, transmission and generation infrastructure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese investments are especially critical following major weather events. Following hurricanes, Florida public power utilities, on average, restore power one to two days faster than other utilities serving customers in the same Florida counties,\u201d an FMEA news release<\/a> said.<\/p>\n

Because local governments or related utility entities own and maintain that infrastructure, FMEA says public power utilities are more directly accountable, and therefore more responsive, to their customers.<\/p>\n

\u201cFlorida\u2019s public power utilities are dedicated to delivering the highest level of service and value to their customers. Their focus is on the specific needs of the customers and community, including high reliability and low rates, as well as other local priorities,\u201d the release said.<\/p>\n

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Nationwide, about 2,000 communities in 49 states are served by public power utilities, which provide electricity to roughly 55 million Americans. Florida has 33 public power utilities serving about 4 million residential and commercial customers, or roughly 14% of the state\u2019s power customers, according to FMEA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Florida Municipal Electric Association (FMEA) is using National Public Power Week to raise awareness of the services…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":418696,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[165553,89722,19296,28,30,64227,29,89715,3741,165554,165555,4018],"class_list":["post-418695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-american-public-power-association","tag-amy-zubaly","tag-executive-director","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-municipal-electric-association","tag-florida-news","tag-fmea","tag-infrastructure","tag-national-public-power-week","tag-publicly-owned","tag-utilities"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=418695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418695\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/418696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=418695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=418695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}