Florida Power & Light enhances energy grid with planned upgrades in Lee County

FPL crews replace overhead neighborhood power lines with underground lines in a Southwest Florida neighborhood on March 27 to help to avoid a leading cause of power outages – trees and vegetation. COURTESY PHOTO

Throughout 2024, Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) plans to make the following upgrades in Lee County as part of its ongoing commitment to avoid outages and restore power faster following severe weather. These upgrades include strengthening 21 main power lines, including those that serve critical community services; maintaining trees and vegetation, a common cause of power outages, particularly during hurricanes and extreme weather, along 1,814 miles of power lines; and inspecting 14,333 power poles as part of an eight-year inspection cycle, strengthening or replacing those that no longer meet FPL’s industry leading standards.

FPL continuously leverages new and innovative technologies to improve reliability for its customers. This year, the company is piloting the installation of automated underground switches which will help detect and isolate outages, further enhancing reliability of underground lines. Crews also use “smart trimming” technology to identify and trim a leading cause of power outages: trees and other vegetation contacting power lines. Smart trimming also helps the company identify areas of concern and assign the work electronically, saving inspection time.

Cumulative improvements in Lee County: When the planned 2024 work is completed, FPL will have made the following improvements since 2006:

Completed 78 SSUP projects.

Strengthened 100 main power lines, including those that serve critical services.

Inspected and maintained vegetation near 8,780 miles of power lines – an average of 488 miles per year.

Inspected 128,902 power poles for strength.

Installed smart grid technology, including 4,934 automated switches on main and neighborhood power lines. “We are so pleased to be able to offer these system upgrades to our customers. Our dedicated team at FPL is committed to providing you with safe and reliable electric service,” said Booker Washington, local area manager at FPL. “These upgrades, including the very latest grid technology, will help get the lights back on faster after storms.” An annual report filed March 1 with the Florida Public Service Commission details how FPL delivered the best service reliability in company history last year. In the most recent statistics from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, FPL’s service reliability was nearly three times better than the national average. ¦

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