46. 'Wholesale Power, Small Town,& Working Together' with Jody Finklea, FMPA, & Jody Young, Bushnell

Episode #46: 'Wholesale Power Agency, Small Town Utility, and the Power of Working Together’ with Jody Finklea of FMPA and Jody Young of the City of Bushnell [an Energy Central Power Power Perspectives™ Podcast] In the Energy Central Community, July is all about customer care and everything that means and encompasses for the utility industry. In that light, this episode seeks to highlight the unique relationship between a wholesale power agency and its member utilities, the customer experience not through the lens of the end consumer and its utility but the relationship between the power producer and the local utility and how they team up to make magic happen for the ratepayers. On one side of this story is the electric utility department at the City of Bushnell, Florida, a small city in Central Florida with such a small coverage area and a small team that having resources and expertise in different areas can be a challenge. That’s where Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA) enters, as a wholesale power agency that is owned by 31 municipal electric utilities across the state, including Bushnell, and empowers its member utilities. Today, podcast host Jason Price and producer Matt Chester are joined by FMPA’s General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer, Jody Finklea, and Bushnell’s City Manager and Finance Director, Jody Young. They’re here to share how FMPA aided Bushnell to expand the city’s electric customers by a whopping 50%, from 1,100 to nearly 1,800. Increasing the customer base that dramatically allowed the city to then enhance its already reliable power systems and provide affordable power to its customers, generating some critical lessons for customer care across the utility sector. Key Links: Energy Central Post with Full Episode Transcript: https://energycentral.com/o/energy-central/episode-39-wholesale-power-agency-small-town-utility-and-power-working-together%E2%80%99 Jody Finklea’s Energy Central Profile: https://energycentral.com/member/profile/jody-lamar-finklea Jody Young’s Energy Central Profile: https://energycentral.com/member/profile/jody-young/about Power of Working Together for Affordable, Reliable Electricity: https://energycentral.com/c/um/power-working-together-affordable-reliable-electricity