GREEN COVE SPRINGS – Bob Page, the former mayor and city council member in Green Cove Springs, will continue to serve the public’s interest as the new chairman of the Florida Municipal Power Agency on the Policy Makers Liaisons Committee.

The committee was formed to better connect wholesale power companies owned by municipal electric utilities and the cities they serve.

“About a dozen years ago, FMPA set up a committee to have people sort of be an intermediary between council members and some decision makers within the organization,” Page said.

Page said some cities have separate councils and utility boards, while others rely on the council to serve in both capacities. When Page’s term limit expired in Green Cove Springs, the council asked him to represent them with the organization.

Now he serves 31 cities and counties that run their own electrical companies. Locally, that includes Green Cove Springs.

“So it was sort of meant in those cases where there were two separate entities (council and utilities boards) that was sort of a bridge between the two, and to keep the council members who maybe had a lesson or interactivity with them, a more appraised of what was going on was happening,” Page said. “So that when I started, I was on the council at that point in time in Green Cove. Then upon the end of my term limits, everybody on the council were hard working people that had jobs, and they said, would you ever be an assistant policy? It was a good fit for me.”

James Hilty Sr. of Ocala was elected as vice chairman. They will lead the committee in its mission of fostering communication between public officials and FMPA, their wholesale electricity provider.

Page previously served two terms as vice chair and has been a member of the Policy Makers Liaisons Committee since 2013.

Hilty served on FMPA’s Policy Makers Liaisons Committee for four years until the end of his city council term in 2017. He rejoined the committee earlier this year after winning the 2021 election for his district’s representation to the city council.

Florida Municipal Power Agency is a wholesale power agency owned by municipal electric utilities in Florida. FMPA’s mission is to provide low-cost, reliable and clean power, plus value-added services for FMPA’s owner-customers that benefit their communities and customers. The 31 members of FMPA serve nearly 2.7 million Floridians and employ nearly 3,700 people.