FPL’s Annual Storm Drill Highlights State-of-the-Art Technology

Earlier this month, Florida Power & Light Co. tested the response of more than 3,000 employees by simulating two hurricanes impacting its service area during the company's annual storm drill.

For the first time, the exercise coincided with a statewide hurricane exercise involving nearly all other state energy companies and emergency operations centers.  Participants included representatives from the Florida National Guard and Florida Division of Emergency Management who observed and, in some cases, participated in the storm simulation at FPL's Command Center in Riviera Beach, Fla.

“Mother Nature’s strength and unpredictability was on full display last year, testing us and many Floridians,” said Eric Silagy, president and CEO of FPL. “Our employees were prepared and ready to respond because of the constant training, including activities such as this week’s storm drill. I am encouraged by the nearly $3 billion we have invested in our energy grid, which benefitted our customers by helping prevent nearly 150,000 service interruptions during Hurricanes Hermine and Matthew. Were it not for these improvements, these storms would have resulted in a much longer and more costly restoration."

The weeklong event was a critical component of FPL's extensive year-round training to ensure employees are ready to respond when their customers need them the most.

FPL worked in coordination with other energy companies and local jurisdictions that participated in HurrEx, the state’s annual hurricane exercise.  As part of the exercise, Hurricane Hawkeye, which mimicked 1975’s Hurricane Eloise, made landfall on May 1 in Florida’s Panhandle. Two days later, Hurricane Donna followed the same path it took 57 years ago – striking the Florida Keys as a Category 3 hurricane, looping through the western and central parts of the state and exiting north of Daytona Beach as a Category 1 storm.

The company was tested, along with the rest of the state, to respond and restore power to customers throughout its service area.

“The vast majority of our customers live within 20 miles of the coastline, so I can’t stress enough how important it is for our customers to prepare,” Silagy said. “In fact, notwithstanding the 2016 hurricane season, our back-of-the-envelope math still suggests that some 40 percent of our customers have yet to experience the full force of a hurricane. This week’s drill is a reminder to all of us that we need to prepare to ensure that we are able to respond and restore power once it is safe to do so – just like we did last year and any time there is a severe weather event.”

During Hurricane Hermine in September 2016, FPL crews worked safely and quickly to restore service to 100 percent of its customers impacted by the storm within 24 hours of Hermine’s passing, and impacted customers experienced an average outage duration of less than three hours. Investments in smart grid automated switches also helped prevent 30,000 customer interruptions.

During Hurricane Matthew in October 2016, FPL restored nearly 99 percent of customers affected by the end of two full days of restoration following the hurricane’s exit from its service area. Smart grid automated switches on FPL’s system prevented 118,000 customer interruptions, and hardened distribution main power lines performed 30 percent better than non-hardened main power lines. Furthermore, no FPL transmission poles and hardened main power line poles failed.

While investments in building a stronger and smarter energy grid demonstrated benefits to customers during Hurricanes Hermine and Matthew, FPL reminds its customers that every storm is different, along with the damage that comes with it, and urges them to prepare for the upcoming hurricane season.