Aug 31, 2016
JUNO BEACH, Fla. – Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) today announced that the company is making final preparations to respond to Tropical Storm Hermine, moving employees and contract personnel into place so they are ready to restore power to affected customers.
This morning, the National Hurricane Center forecast that Tropical Storm Hermine will make landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast sometime Thursday, which means that FPL customers in the northern parts of the state should prepare for tropical storm-force winds, flying debris and vegetation, and potential flooding from heavy rainfall.
“FPL has mobilized and is prepared to respond to the effects of this storm with a restoration workforce totaling approximately 5,000 field workers and support staff,” said Eric Silagy, president and chief executive officer of FPL. “For the better part of the past decade, FPL has been investing heavily in developing one of the nation’s most advanced smart grids. A key focus of that investment has been to make the electric system stronger by upgrading main power lines that serve critical local facilities and other community needs. This prepares our system to better withstand severe weather, and importantly, enables us to restore power to our customers faster following major storms.”
The company’s system upgrades include local facilities, including all major hospitals, and essentially all 911 facilities and emergency operations centers in the 35 Florida counties FPL serves. FPL also has upgraded lines serving facilities that address other community needs, such as pharmacies, grocery stores and gas stations. By year-end 2016, FPL will have strengthened all main power lines serving critical facilities.
FPL’s enhancements to the energy grid over the past decade also include:
With Tropical Storm Hermine approaching, FPL urges customers to review their family and business emergency plans, keep a close watch on the development of the storm and follow the advice of local government. Preparation and safety tips are available at FPL.com.
How we prepare for storm season
Please stay safe
Safety is always FPL’s first priority. We urge customers to make it their top priority, too:
Florida Power & Light Company
Florida Power & Light Company is the third-largest electric utility in the United States, serving more than 4.8 million customer accounts or more than 10 million people 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 2015, was the lowest in Florida among reporting utilities for the sixth 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 received the top ranking in the southern U.S. among large electric providers, according to the J.D. Power 2016 Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction StudySM, and was recognized in 2016 as one of the most trusted U.S. electric utilities by Market Strategies International. A leading Florida employer with approximately 8,800 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, and has been ranked No. 1 in the electric and gas utilities industry in Fortune's 2016 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 about NextEra Energy companies, visit these websites: www.NextEraEnergy.com, www.FPL.com, www.NextEraEnergyResources.com.
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