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In 2023, FPL plans to make a number of upgrades in Coral Gables as part of its ongoing effort to improve resiliency in the face of severe weather.
These investments include moving more power lines underground, strengthening overhead lines and installing more intelligent devices along the energy grid to help detect potential problems and restore power faster when outages do occur. The investments have the added benefit of improving day-to-day reliability for customers as well.
FPL plans to make the following improvements in and near Coral Gables this year:
• 30 Storm Secure Underground Program (SSUP) projects planned. The program started in 2018 to replace more overhead neighborhood power lines with underground service.
• Strengthening 13 main power lines, including those that serve critical services that are necessary for communities to recover faster after major storms.
• Maintaining trees and vegetation — a common cause of power outages, particularly during hurricanes and severe weather — along 138 miles of power lines.
• Inspecting 1,016 power poles in Coral Gables as part of an eight-year inspection cycle, strengthening or replacing those that no longer meet FPL’s industry-leading standards.
• Installing smart grid technology, including 39 switches on main and neighborhood power lines to help detect problems and restore service faster when outages occur.
• Inspecting 51 main power lines and equipment using infrared technology to detect issues before they cause a power interruption.
When the planned 2023 work is completed, FPL will have made the following improvements in and near Coral Gables since the historic 2004-05 hurricane seasons:
• Strengthened 16 main power lines, including those that serve critical services.
• Inspected and maintained vegetation near 1,482 miles of power lines — an average of 87 miles per year.
• Inspected all 11,209 power poles every eight years.
• Installed smart grid technology, including 1,041 automated switches on main and neighborhood power lines.
• Inspected 96 main power lines and equipment using infrared technology.
“No energy grid is hurricane-proof, and storms will continue to cause power outages, but detailed assessments following 2022’s Hurricanes Ian and Nicole showed FPL’s investments to storm-harden its energy grid continue to benefit customers, speeding restoration,” said Manny Miranda, executive vice president of Power Delivery for FPL.
Strengthening power poles, managing trees and vegetation near power lines, installing smart grid technology to fix problems before they affect customers and using robots and drones to regularly inspect equipment have all helped FPL improve its service reliability by 41 percent since 2006. These upgrades have helped reduce both the number and duration of outages, as well as the number of momentary interruptions or power flickers.
SSUP is a concerted effort to place more neighborhood power lines underground. It is designed to help speed restoration efforts, reduce restoration costs, and reduce customer outages. FPL completed more than 1,200 SSUP projects since SSUP started and will expand the program in 2023, with about 750 projects planned across the state.
“We are committed to investing in innovative solutions and technology,” said Addys Kuryla, local external affairs manager for FPL. “We work year-round so our customers across Florida can resume their normal lives safely and as quickly as possible after storms.”
In 2022, for the seventh time in eight years, FPL was awarded the ReliabilityOne National Reliability Award. Presented by PA Consulting, the award is widely regarded in the energy industry as one of the most prestigious honors and reinforces FPL’s commitment to provide customers with the nation’s most reliable service.
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