Thoughts following the FMEA Annual Conference
While I've attended the bigger national utility conferences this year, I was recently invited to the Florida Municipal Electric Association annual conference by friend and advisor Lila Jaber, former Commissioner and Chairman of the Florida PSC. I was blown away. By the event, by the FMEA organization led by Executive Director Amy Zubaly, by the thought provoking presentations, and by the overall state of the public power industry in Florida.
On my way there I happened to be reading a Carl Hiaasen book. Hiaasen is known for bringing out the quirky, chaotic side of Florida, to say the very least. What I saw at FMEA was the opposite. Florida public power is working tirelessly to make sure its infrastructure is strong and resilient for years to come. That work is not without big challenges and headwinds. Load growth, data centers, the drive to be over prepared for the next big storm Florida is always vulnerable to, and uncertainty at the federal level were all front and center.
One theme ran through the entire event: the camaraderie among the 33 municipalities that make up FMEA. They genuinely work together to support one another and strengthen their service to the state. They shared highlights from their annual Lineman Rodeo, a fun competition on the surface, but underneath it a clear demonstration that these teams are ready to join forces and keep the lights on, literally, across Florida.
The bigger takeaway for me, as someone always hunting for the overarching theme, is that AI is a major force behind these challenges. It may be bordering on cliche at this point, but it stuck with me at this event. FMEA laid out every angle of the impact data centers are having and how that upheaval reverberates through the entire system, literally.
Their keynote speaker brought it all home. Jen Golbeck, an AI expert, delivered the most gripping assessment of AI I've heard, its faults and its opportunities alike. She noted that AI has been positioned in a lot of corners as something that "will destroy civilization," but as an expert in the field, she was blunt about the reality: "AI is not very intelligent. It can do amazing things, but it's not intelligent the way we are." That landed for me, because I keep writing about the human side of the equation in our industry.
Then she went a step further with advice tailor made for an industry built on trust. You can lose trust dramatically and instantly if you use customer data in ways people are not expecting, in ways that violate their privacy. And once it's gone, it is really hard to earn back. Her lesson to the room was simple: you hold a lot of customer data, and surprising people with how you use it will backfire.
I'll leave it there. Great conference. And support public power. The work they do in local communities across the country matters more than most people realize.