JUNO BEACH, Fla. – Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) urges customers to finalize preparations and prepare for power outages as Tropical Storm Nicole nears landfall along Florida’s east coast as a possible hurricane. Approximately 13,000 men and women are dedicated to the restoration effort, with crews already responding to Nicole’s outer bands.
“We urge our customers to avoid the trap of focusing on the centerline of the forecast cone. This is a very large storm with the potential to impact much of our state,” said Eric Silagy, chairman and CEO of FPL. “Now is the time to finalize preparations, prepare for power outages and make safety your top priority. The next few days will undoubtedly be challenging for those impacted, but I want our customers to know that we will be working around the clock to restore power.”
Following Hurricane Ian’s widespread destruction just a few weeks ago, Nicole has the potential to flood already saturated areas and topple storm-weakened trees throughout FPL’s service area. The heavy rains, possible storm surge and debris could slow access for crews pre-positioned to restore power after the storm. Tree-trimming crews will need to cut away trees and other vegetation before line workers can begin finding and fixing damage.
“We know so many Floridians are already fatigued, and many seasonal residents are not accustomed to dealing with a storm so late in the season, but please don’t let your guard down,” Silagy urged.
While no electric system is stormproof and FPL expects power outages, the company’s improvements to strengthen the energy grid since the historic 2004-05 hurricane seasons have enabled faster restoration times.
What FPL is doing
FPL has activated its emergency response plan, which includes:
- Approximately 13,000 personnel dedicated to supporting the restoration
- Finalizing logistics for staging sites in the areas most likely to be affected
- Pre-positioning key equipment and supplies
- Coordinating with county and state emergency operations centers on response
As Nicole’s outer bands move across the state, FPL is working to restore power as long as it’s safe to do so. During the storm, FPL will also use smart grid technology to remotely restore power to customers where possible. Immediately following the storm, once winds drop below 35 miles per hour, FPL will continue restoration and conduct damage assessments with field crews. These assessments, which include data gathered from a fleet of drones, help FPL assign the right resources to each geographical region. Once assessments are complete, FPL can give customers an accurate estimate of when restoration will be complete in each region.
In the wake of a storm, FPL knows customers need as much information as possible in order to make decisions for their families. Every storm is different, but FPL’s goal is to provide customers information that is accurate more quickly than ever before. FPL will aim to provide its best estimates for when restoration will be completed for 95% of FPL customers affected by the storm approximately 24 hours after the storm has cleared FPL’s service area. This is the time FPL needs to assess damage and deploy the right crews and right equipment.
FPL will share the best, most up-to-date information as quickly as possible through traditional media, social media, FPL.com and the FPL app.
Additional resources
Customers can download the FPL app for on-the-go, instant and secure access to their accounts. Customers can report or get the latest information on an outage. The app is available for download in the iOS App Store and Google Play. To quickly download the FPL app, text the word “App” to MyFPL (69375). Customers also can sign up for storm updates by texting the word “Join” to MyFPL (69375).
How to stay informed
FPL communicates restoration information to customers frequently through the news media and the following resources:
- FPL website: FPL.com
- Twitter: twitter.com/insideFPL
- Facebook: facebook.com/FPLconnect
- FPL app: Download from the App Store or Google Play, or text the word “App” to MyFPL (69375)
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Florida Power & Light Company
As America’s largest electric utility, Florida Power & Light Company serves more customers and sells more power than any other utility, providing clean, affordable, reliable electricity to approximately 5.8 million accounts, or more than 12 million people. FPL operates one of the cleanest power generation fleets in the U.S. and in 2021 won the ReliabilityOne® National Reliability Award for the sixth time in the last seven years. The company received the top ranking in the southern U.S. among large electric providers, according to J.D. Power’s 2021 Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction StudySM and 2021 Electric Utility Business Customer Satisfaction StudySM. The company was also recognized in 2020 as one of the most trusted U.S. electric utilities by Escalent for the seventh consecutive year. FPL is a subsidiary of Juno Beach, Florida-based NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE), a clean energy company widely recognized for its efforts in sustainability, corporate responsibility, ethics and compliance, and diversity. NextEra Energy is ranked No. 1 in the electric and gas utilities industry in Fortune’s 2022 list of “World’s Most Admired Companies” and recognized on Fortune’s 2021 list of companies that “Change the World.” NextEra Energy is also the parent company of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which, together with its affiliated entities, is the world’s largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun and a world leader in battery storage. For more information about NextEra Energy companies, visit these websites: www.NextEraEnergy.com, www.FPL.com, www.NextEraEnergyResources.com.