Florida Power & Light plans to upgrade the energy grid in Wellington and West Palm Beach as the hurricane season approaches. The goal is increased reliability for customers.
FPL’s projects over the past decade to improve reliability have included the strengthening of power poles, tree and vegetation maintenance, further installation of smart grid technology, equipment inspection and undergrounding of power lines in specific neighborhoods.
“We understand how much our customers depend on the critical service we provide. That’s why our team works tirelessly to continuously improve the energy grid across our service area, from Miami to Pensacola,” said FPL Chief Executive Officer Eric Silagy.
FPL continues efforts to boost reliability by undergrounding power lines in the most needed communities, based on analysis of hurricane outages and other reliability issues.
FPL launched a program in 2018 called the Storm Secure Underground Pilot Program, which completed 600 neighborhood projects as of December.
Projects for Wellington in 2022:
● Carrying out 109 Storm Secure Underground Pilot Program projects to underground power lines.
● Strengthening four main power lines that are critical to returning service after major events.
● Maintaining trees and vegetation along 132 miles of power lines.
● Inspecting 2,434 power poles as part of an eight-year inspection cycle.
● Installing smart grid technology which can detect problems and help restore service faster when issues occur.
● Using infrared technology to inspecting 21 main power lines.
Projects for the West Palm Beach area in 2022:
● Carrying out two Storm Secure Underground Pilot Program projects to underground power lines.
● Strengthening 11 main power lines, including ones necessary to recover after a storm.
● Maintaining trees and vegetation along 294 miles of power lines.
● Inspecting 2,568 power poles, as part of an eight-year project.
● Installing smart grid technology that can detect problems and help restore service faster after outages.
● Inspecting 89 power lines and equipment using infrared technology.
FPL strives to adopt the latest technology to improve service reliability. This includes drones and robots which conduct regular assessments and can potentially fix problems before they arise. Intelligent devices are being used extensively by FPL.
“We are always looking for new ways to enhance the reliability of our service. From examining lessons learned from past storms to incorporating new advancements, we are seeing the value of our efforts every day.”
- Manny Miranda, the executive vice president of power delivery for FPL
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