FPL Strengthens Electric Grid Serving Sarasota

SARASOTA, FL – Florida Power & Light is hoping to make things brighter in the Sarasota area.

FPL is in the process of upgrading its system in the Sarasota area as part of its ongoing work to strengthen the power grid and improve service reliability. Company investments, which will include strengthening power lines and power poles, trimming trees around power lines and installing smart grid technology, is expected to make the grid more reliable day to day and more storm resilient.

“We continue to build a stronger and smarter electric grid to provide our customers with reliable service year-round,” said Eric Silagy, president and CEO of FPL. “Our ongoing investments in strengthening the electric grid and utilizing advanced smart grid technology help us deliver electricity our customers can count on in good weather and bad.”

Silagy said this was never more evident than during last year’s hurricane season. FPL’s investments in the grid were tested last year during Hurricane Matthew.

FPL restored 99 percent of customers affected by Hurricane Matthew by the end of two full days of restoration following the storm’s exit from its service area. Smart grid automated switches on FPL’s system prevented 118,000 customer interruptions, and strengthened main power lines performed 30 percent better than non-strengthened main power lines, the company reported.

For everyday reliability, strengthened power lines perform approximately 40 percent better than lines that have not been strengthen, which improves reliability and speeds restoration efforts during sever weather such as afternoon summer thunderstorms, the company said.

When the planned 2017 work is completed, FPL will have made the following improvements in and near Sarasota since 2006:

• Strengthened 10 main power lines, including those that serve all critical community services, such as Sarasota Memorial Hospital, Sarasota Emergency Operations Center, the American Red Cross – Southwest Florida Chapter, Doctors Hospital of Sarasota, 911 emergency communications centers, and two emergency operations centers.
• Cleared tree branches and vegetation from 153 miles of power lines every year and more than 1,685 miles in total.
• Inspected all 19,172 power poles every eight years, strengthening or replacing those that no longer meet the company’s standards for strength.
• Installed smart grid technology, including 25 automated switches on main power lines and 534 automated switches on smaller power lines serving neighborhoods, to help detect problems and restore service faster when outages occur.
• Inspected 53 main power lines and equipment using infrared technology to detect issues before they cause a power interruption.

“FPL has the most reliable service of any investor-owned energy company in Florida, but we are never satisfied,” said Manny Miranda, senior vice president of power delivery for FPL. “We’re working hard every day to provide customers within the Sarasota area with electric service they can count on. This includes several new projects in the area, such as strengthening the main power line along main thoroughfares such as Clark Road.”

Image courtesy of Florida Power & Light