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As the 2022 hurricane season officially ended on Wednesday, Nov. 30, Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) reported its investments to make the electric grid more storm resilient paid off for customers this year.
FPL activated its emergency response plan two times — for Hurricane Ian, which struck in late September as the fifth-strongest storm to ever hit the United States, and Hurricane Nicole — the first November hurricane to make landfall in Florida since 1985.
Hurricane Ian caused catastrophic damage and impacted more than 2.1 million FPL customers across the state. FPL completed restoration to essentially all customers impacted eight days after the high-end Category 4 storm exited Florida.
Hurricane Nicole, a rare November hurricane, impacted more than 480,000 FPL customers. FPL essentially completed restoration to customers impacted by Nicole less than 24 hours after the storm exited the state.
“The most important preparation for extreme weather is through sustained, long-term investments to build a stronger and smarter energy grid, as evidenced by this past hurricane season,” said Manny Miranda, FPL executive vice president of Power Delivery. “No system is hurricane-proof, but we’ve proven that a well-maintained, hardened system enables us to restore power faster so our customers can begin getting their lives back to normal and Florida’s economy can get back to business.”
FPL credits year-round preparation and nearly two decades of sustained investments in a stronger, smarter, more storm-resilient energy grid for reducing restoration times for customers. Detailed assessments following the 2022 hurricane season confirmed the resiliency of FPL’s storm-hardened energy grid:
FPL’s transmission system: The backbone of any electrical system, transmission lines carry high-voltage electricity from power plants to substations. FPL did not lose a single transmission structure during Hurricane Ian or Nicole.
Underground power lines: FPL is working to systematically underground neighborhood power lines, which are traditionally located in backyards and susceptible to trees and other wind-blown debris. Initial forensics show existing underground neighborhood power lines performed significantly better during the 2022 hurricane season.
Smart grid technology: The tens of thousands of smart grid devices installed along FPL’s energy grid helped the company restore service to customers before it was safe to send crews into the field and helped to avoid more than 550,000 customer outages this storm season.
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