Florida electric utilities plan emergency response ahead of Hurricane Dorian landfall

Electric companies are mobilizing thousands of workers from across the country in advance of Hurricane Dorian in order to be ready to quickly restore power to impacted customers in the event the forecasted Category 4 storm hits Florida over the Labor Day weekend.

On Wednesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for the 26 counties on the East Coast of the state in anticipation of Dorian. DeSantis expanded the state of emergency to include all 67 counties Thursday afternoon.

Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) and Duke Energy Florida have already begun the process of activating their emergency response plans. Repair crews are being positioned as line technicians and other workers check equipment, supplies and inventories to ensure adequate materials are available to make repairs and restore power.

Both Duke and FPL urge customers and Florida residents to take the storm seriously and prepare now for power outages and restoration delays. As with any power restoration effort, repair crews must first assess the extent of the damage, which can take 24 hours or more, before they are allowed to begin work.

“Hurricane Dorian is intensifying and poses a significant threat to east central Florida,” said Duke Energy Florida storm director Jason Cutliffe. “We join state officials in asking everyone to take this storm seriously and prepare now. We also ask our customers for their patience. With a Category 4 hurricane, power may take several days to restore.”

Nearly 16,000 FPL employees and additional personnel have been put in place to help restore electricity once it is safe to do so, FPL said on Friday.

FPL President and CEO Eric Silagy commended the company’s continued efforts to make the investments necessary to protect the more than 48,000 miles of overhead power lines it operates amid Florida’s tree-heavy landscape.

“Storms are nature’s way of clearing debris, and as we saw with Hurricane Irma in 2017, it is likely that Florida’s lush landscape will cause outages and restoration challenges,” Silagy said. “Since 2006, FPL has made enhancements to build a stronger, smarter and more storm-resilient grid to deliver electricity our customers can count on in good weather and bad. We also proactively clear tree branches, palm fronds and other vegetation from more than 15,000 miles of power lines every year. These investments paid off for customers following Irma and shaved days off the restoration.”

Silagy said that with a storm of Dorian’s potential magnitude, outages will likely occur, but that the company’s prior investments will help speed the restoration process.

Along with FPL’s internal emergency response teams, the company is also working with several utilities from around the United States to help secure additional equipment, pre-positioning resources, and overall manpower ahead of Dorian’s landfall.

The Edison Electric Institute, which represents the nation’s electric companies, stated on its website that the industry’s mutual assistance networks have been activated. Considered a cornerstone of electric utilities’ emergency operations during natural disasters, EEI says electric companies affected by major outages rely on the industry’s mutual assistance network, a voluntary partnership of electric companies from across the country, to help restore power.

The Louisville Gas and Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company tweeted Friday that 165 of their employees and contractors are making their way to Florida before the storm hits “in preparation of helping utility crews there deal with damage the storm may leave behind.”

Likewise, First Energy Corp. said on Friday on Twitter that more than 200 of its line workers and utility personnel are preparing to leave for Florida early Saturday to assist Tampa Electric with anticipated power restoration efforts following the hurricane.

More than 150 employees and contractors from Exelon Corporation’s Atlantic City Electric are also heading south as part of mutual assistance networks coordinating recovery efforts.

“Energy companies from across the country have supported our responses to major storms here, and we are glad to return the favor,” said Gary Stockbridge, Atlantic City Electric region president.

Additionally, 18 line technicians and supervisory staff from the Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) left Friday morning to head to Florida at the request of the American Public Power Association. The NPPD employees will assist the restoration efforts of the Orlando Utilities Commission and will be deployed to the southeastern state for approximately two weeks.