JUNO BEACH, Fla., Nov. 29, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) today
marked the end of the 2015 hurricane season by reminding its
customers to stay vigilant despite the fact they were spared the
devastation of a major hurricane this year. Tropical Storm Erika,
however, did provide a stark reminder of the need for ongoing
preparation and continued investment in strengthening FPL's
electric grid.
"It's difficult to imagine that it's been a full decade since a
major hurricane struck Florida," said Eric
Silagy, president and chief executive officer of FPL. "While
we are fortunate to not have experienced a major storm this year,
we can never forget the importance of being prepared, and Tropical
Storm Erika provided us with an opportunity to test our storm
readiness. At FPL, we train and prepare year-round, and continue to
make the electric system more resilient to severe weather by making
the necessary investments in poles, wire and vegetation management
as well as state-of-the art smart grid technology."
FPL began its grid-strengthening efforts following the historic
2004-05 storm season, when seven hurricanes struck the company's
service area in an 18-month span. Since that time, FPL has invested
more than $2 billion to strengthen
its system, including upgrading poles and power lines serving
critical community facilities, such as police and fire stations,
hospitals and 911 centers that are essential to getting a community
back on its feet following a major storm. By 2016, FPL plans to
strengthen every main power line serving critical community
facilities in its 35-county service area.
How FPL strengthens the grid
FPL employs several
strategies to strengthen or "harden" its infrastructure,
including:
- Strengthening more than 600 main power lines (feeders) serving
key community facilities, including hospitals, police and fire
stations, 911 communication centers
- Clearing vegetation from 120,000 miles of power lines
- Inspecting 1.2 million utility poles, restoring or replacing
those that no longer meet FPL's standards for strength
- Installing advanced smart grid and cutting-edge technologies –
including 4.8 million smart meters and more than 12,000 other
intelligent devices – to reduce power outages, speed restoration
and provide customers with unprecedented information to manage
their energy use
- Installing flood mitigation and monitoring equipment at certain
flood-prone electric substations, an industry lesson learned
following Superstorm Sandy
"Customers are experiencing first-hand the benefits of our
stronger, smarter grid," said Silagy. "As an example, during
Tropical Storm Erika, and this year's especially active season of
thunderstorms and lightning, the investments we have been making to
strengthen our overhead lines systemwide resulted in enhanced
performance by approximately 40 percent."
FPL was recognized in the utility industry for its advancements
in building a stronger, smarter, more reliable and storm-resilient
electric grid. This year, FPL was named the winner of the 2015
ReliabilityOne™ National Reliability Excellence Award by PA
Consulting Group, an international firm that analyzes electric
utility performance across the United
States. The ReliabilityOne™ National Reliability Excellence
Award is given to the regional award recipient that has
demonstrated sustained leadership, innovation and achievement in
the area of electric reliability; FPL received the ReliabilityOne™
Award for Outstanding Reliability Performance in the Southeast
region of the U.S. FPL also won the Outstanding Technology and
Innovation in the U.S. award.
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story:
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About Florida
Power & Light Company
Florida Power & Light Company is the
third-largest electric utility in the
United States, serving approximately 4.8 million customer
accounts across nearly half of the state of Florida. FPL's typical
1,000-kWh residential customer bill is approximately 30 percent
lower than the latest national average and, in 2014, was the lowest
in Florida among reporting
utilities for the fifth year in a row. FPL's service reliability is
better than 99.98 percent, and its highly fuel-efficient power
plant fleet is one of the cleanest among all utilities nationwide.
The company was recognized in 2015 as one of the most trusted U.S.
electric utilities by Market Strategies International. A leading
Florida employer with approximately 8,700 employees, FPL is a
subsidiary of Juno Beach,
Fla.-based NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE), a clean energy
company widely recognized for its efforts in sustainability, ethics
and diversity, including being ranked in the top 10 worldwide for
innovativeness and community responsibility as part of Fortune's
2015 list of "World's Most Admired Companies." NextEra Energy is
also the parent company of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which,
together with its affiliated entities, is the world's largest
generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun. For more
information, visit these websites: www.NextEraEnergy.com,
www.FPL.com, www.NextEraEnergyResources.com.
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SOURCE Florida Power & Light
Company