- January 29, 2025
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by: Florida Power and Light
Florida Power and Light Company customers in Ormond Beach continue to benefit from the company’s ongoing work to strengthen the energy grid and improve service reliability. FPL investments — which include strengthening power lines and poles, trimming trees near power lines, installing smart grid technology; and placing underground power lines in select areas — help make the grid more reliable day-to-day and speed restoration following major storms.
“For more than 15 years, FPL has been improving the energy grid, making it stronger, smarter and more storm-resilient to keep the lights on for customers in good weather and bad,” said Eric Silagy, president and CEO of FPL. “Last year, there was a historic level of tropical activity with 30 named storms, and as a result of our ongoing investments in smart grid technology, we were able to speed restoration during these storms and avoid more than 150,000 outages. In addition, we continue to find cost-effective ways to replace overhead power lines with underground lines to reduce outages caused by animals, birds, trees and other vegetation.”
In 2018, FPL began a pilot program known as the Storm Secure Underground Program after Hurricane Irma, which was implemented to cost-effectively move overhead power lines underground in targeted communities. In neighborhoods including Ormond Beach that have experienced a history of vegetation-related interruptions, the program’s goal is to enhance customers’ service reliability and the energy grid’s resiliency. As of Dec. 31, 2020, more than 240 SSUP projects have been completed throughout the company’s service area.
2021 improvements in the Ormond Beach area
FPL plans to make the following improvements in and near Ormond Beach this year:
When the planned 2021 work is completed, FPL will have made the following improvements in and near Ormond Beach since the historic 2004-2005 hurricane seasons:
As part of the Storm Protection Plan approved by the Florida Public Service Commission, FPL estimates that between 300 and 500 neighborhood power lines will be placed underground annually from 2021 to 2022. Over the next 10 years, FPL plans to continue investing about $1 billion annually on storm hardening. These programs are a continuation of the company’s existing hardening programs and have benefited customers by successfully reducing restoration costs and outage times during major storms, as well as improving day-to-day service reliability.
“FPL’s efforts to build the nation’s most intelligent and reliable energy grid have resulted in a more than 40% improvement in service reliability since 2006 for our customers,” said Manny Miranda, senior vice president of power delivery for FPL. “As our service reliability has improved, we continue our efforts to embrace emerging technology to find innovative ways to deliver reliable and affordable energy.”
Strengthening the FPL grid throughout Florida
Since 2006, FPL has invested over $5 billion, as well as ongoing maintenance and improvement work, to make the energy grid stronger and smarter. This includes:
