FPL weathers the challenges of record-breaking storm season

Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) reported that it has come through the record-breaking 2020 hurricane season, having weathered the challenges.

Two of those named storms impacted FPL customers – Tropical Storms Isaias, which hit in July, and Eta, which hit in November. For Isaias, FPL assembled a restoration workforce of more than 10,000 to respond. Isaias ended up staying off Florida’s coast but still caused about 40,000 outages. In November, Eta hit twice with its high winds, heavy rains, and flooding. The first time it led to about 350,000 outages for FPL customers. FPL assembled a workforce of about 12,000 to restore power. A few days later, Eta made a turn in the Gulf of Mexico and headed back to Florida and caused about 70,000 outages to FPL customers. FPL sent out 9,000 personnel – many of whom had just been out a few days earlier — to get the lights back on.

Overall, the company, which serves 5.1 million customers throughout the state, restored more than 450,000 outages after trees and debris blew into equipment and flooding caused service interruptions. FPL officials point out that more than 150,000 additional outages were avoided due to smart grid technology that FPL had deployed.

In addition to these two storms, FPL sent out mutual assistance crews five times to help other utilities directly impacted by hurricanes. Thousands of employees and contractors were sent to several states, traveling as far west as Texas and as far north as New Jersey to restore power. Restoration personnel worked with the added challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic, which led FPL to revamp its procedures to add safety measures to protect customers, employees, and contractors.

“This hurricane season drove home the importance of preparation and the critical role of mutual assistance,” FPL President and CEO Eric Silagy said. “Other energy companies stepped up to help us respond to Isaias and Eta, and our dedicated men and women were eager to provide support to our fellow Americans on five different occasions after hurricanes caused damage elsewhere.”

FPL has invested more than $5 billion since 2006 to make the energy grid stronger, smarter, and more storm resilient.