As construction activities for the repowering of Florida Power & Light Company's Sanford power plant continue, steps are being taken to ensure minimum negative impact on traffic and neighbors. The FPL plant site is north of the St. Johns River and west of Highway 17-92. The plant has operated there since 1927.

"We've hired off-duty police officers to monitor the flow of traffic in front of the plant on 17-92," said Roxane Kennedy, Sanford plant manager. "In addition, we asked our contractors to schedule many of their larger deliveries at night and during off-peak traffic hours."

"For example, we recently completed a foundation pour involving more than 995 cubic yards of concrete by scheduling the work between midnight and 6 a.m., including the arrival of 95 trucks of concrete," Ms. Kennedy said.

Another challenge for the plant, according to Ms. Kennedy, has been to coordinate its construction activities with the activities of the state Department of Transportation. DOT is installing underground utilities and widening a section of 17-92 at the same time the plant is undergoing its "repowering" to meet future customer growth. "We're all working at once and doing our best to coordinate activities in an attempt to minimize impact on drivers and nearby residences and businesses. Once the road work is complete, traffic should flow smoother," said Ms. Kennedy.

"Repowering" means replacing the 1970s power plant technology with state- of-the-art combined-cycle technology using natural gas instead of oil. The project will double the generating capacity of the existing facility without requiring additional land to meet the growing electricity needs of FPL's customers in Central Florida.

Repowering will expand the plant's current capability of providing electricity for about 220,000 homes and businesses to serve more than 486,000 homes and businesses in the area. Construction began in February and the newly repowered units are expected to be in operation in 2003.

The Sanford plant is the second of five large projects slated to expand FPL's generating capability by 24 percent over the next 10 years. FPL's plant in Fort Myers will be the first and is scheduled to be in operation in mid- 2002.

Florida Power & Light Company is the principal subsidiary of FPL Group, Inc. , one of the nation's largest providers of electricity-related services with annual revenues of more than $6 billion. The company serves 3.8 million customer accounts in Florida. FPL Energy, LLC, FPL Group's U.S. and international energy-generating subsidiary, is a leader in producing electricity from clean and renewable fuels. Additional information is available on the Internet at www.fpl.com under "Our Environment."

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SOURCE: Florida Power & Light Company