Florida Power and Light opens service center designed to withstand Category 5 hurricane
Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) recently opened its Boynton Beach Service Center, which was built to withstand a Category 5 hurricane and will serve as a shelter for staff members and contractors during storm events and a place to store pre-stage equipment for restoration efforts.
“Critical to restoring power is having lineworkers and vegetation crews pre-staged in the areas where they will be most needed,” Bryan Olnick, vice president of distribution operations for FPL, said. “To do that, we recognized the need to have buildings that are able to withstand hurricane force winds and safely house employees and materials before, during and after a storm.”
Day to day, the building will house employees who work in the Boynton Beach and southern Palm Beach County areas planning, designing, maintaining, and repairing the energy grid.
The facility is one of 12 service centers FPL is hardening throughout the state.
Once completed, the 12 service centers provide space for more than 1,000 workers to ride out storms, enabling them to respond quickly following a hurricane or tropical storm.
“One of the obstacles we face each time we pre-position thousands of men and women ahead of a major hurricane is identifying safe places to ride out the storm,” Olnick said. “While we do everything we can to restore service as fast as possible after a hurricane, we cannot and will not cut corners when it comes to safety. During future storms, these new service centers will play a vital role in our preparation by providing a safe staging point for the brave men and women who face the storm head-on.”
