Financial Services Group
The Financial Services Group directs all the accounting and financial management activities of Florida Gas Utility (FGU). Responsibilities include administering, budgeting, managing, and coordinating the functions of finance, accounting, treasury and debt management, credit/risk management, and contract administration. Responsible for ensuring FGU’s assets, including all funds, are effectively managed and that accounting systems are properly maintained and in compliance with GAAP and other regulatory authorities. Other responsibilities include the formulation of FGU’s financial policies and development of capital projects. These responsibilities are generally referred to as “Back Office Support Functions”. The Financial Services Group also provides other member specific services such as, rate studies, financial analyses and various financial consulting services.
Certain Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) proceedings deal with filings that affect pipeline rates and services provided by FGU and its members.
FGU provides substantial costs savings and other value to members by monitoring and intervening in joint regulatory representation on their behalf. And because FGU is one of the largest shippers on the FGT pipeline, shipping most of its gas via this system, FGU holds a much stronger negotiating position than any of its individual members would independently.
There are many back office tasks required to ensure that FGU can perform its operating functions. Back office support functions include:
- Establishing and monitoring credit policies;
- Billing members for their supply purchases and capacity used;
- Processing payments received;
- Paying natural gas suppliers and interstate pipelines for their charges;
- Compliance with GAAP financial accounting and reporting;
- Preparing the annual budget and financial forecasts;
- Audit management;
- Human resources and payroll processing and reporting;
- Treasury and debt management;
- Primary liaison for information technology requirements; and
- Contract management and compliance.
All Members of FGU must execute a gas services agreement, which among other things, establishes a rate covenant that requires each member to establish rates and charges sufficient to meet all of its obligations to FGU and all other lawful charges and or liens on the member’s system. FGU works with its members to ensure the rates charged to their customer base are properly structured and are fully recovering their cost of service.
FGU provides various types of consulting services for its members ranging from financial analysis, project management, present value analysis, cash flow management, and credit risk analysis. These services are generally related to potential expansion programs for the member’s utility system.
