Fifteen years after Hurricane Wilma slammed
'Wilma was a turning point,' said
Hurricane Wilma, which made landfall as a Category 3 storm in southwest
Just months after Wilma's landfall, FPL unveiled its Storm Secure Plan, a landmark, long-term initiative designed to improve reliability for customers by strengthening the company's electric grid against future hurricanes and other adverse weather.
The program has produced significant improvements in service reliability and continues to expand in scope 15 years later, as FPL has invested more than
Hardening main power lines that serve critical community facilities and services, such as police and fire stations, hospitals and 911 centers
Upgrading or replacing distribution power poles that no longer meet FPL's industry-leading standards for strength while inspecting all of the company's 1.3 million power poles on an ongoing 8-year cycle (approximately 150,000 poles inspected annually)
Maintaining trees and other vegetation along 15,000 miles of power lines annually
Replacing wood transmission structures with concrete or steel
FPL also initiated its Energy Smart Florida Program by being one of the first utilities to install smart meters, automated switches and other intelligent devices that detect problems before they occur and get the lights on faster if there is an outage.
FPL has installed more than 5 million smart meters and more than 160,000 intelligent devices along the energy grid, which also contribute to improved reliability and reduced restoration times. While it took FPL 18 days to restore power after Hurricane Wilma, it took the company 10 days to get the lights on after Hurricane Irma in 2017, which was a stronger storm that affected more customers.
More recently, to address a leading cause of power outages - overhead power lines and other equipment impacted by downed trees, branches and other structures - FPL in 2018 launched the Storm Secure Underground Pilot Program to replace overhead power lines not part of the company's hardening program with more reliable underground lines in neighborhoods with a history of vegetation-related interruptions and other reliability factors.
The pilot is helping determine the most cost-effective methods to place underground power lines in neighborhoods to enhance reliability in good weather and bad. The pilot is yielding important data that will continue to advance FPL's efforts as it envisions more widespread undergrounding in the future.
'We listened to our customers, regulators and employees after Wilma to come up with an industry-leading program we can be proud of,' Miranda said. 'When I see the way we have learned and improved in the 15 years since Wilma, I am confident we are better prepared to deal with whatever Mother Nature throws our way and can continue to fulfill our commitment to provide safe and reliable power that our customers rely upon.'
Contact:
Tel: 561-694-4442
Email: Media.Relations@FPL.com
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