JUNO BEACH, Fla. – Florida Power & Light Company customers escaped the worst of the busy 2021 hurricane season, which officially ends today.

While no hurricane made landfall in the 43 Florida counties served by FPL and Gulf Power, FPL activated its emergency plan in July for Tropical Storm Elsa and Gulf Power mobilized to restore power to customers in Northwest Florida affected by Tropical Storms Claudette and Fred. In addition, while Hurricane Ida did not affect Florida, FPL and Gulf Power sent personnel and critical equipment to Louisiana in September to help restore power after the destructive Category 4 storm.

There were 21 named storms in 2021, the third highest number for an Atlantic hurricane season.

“While FPL’s service area was spared a direct hit from a hurricane during another incredibly active season, we know in Florida that it’s not a matter of if, but when, the next storm will impact our state,” said FPL President and CEO Eric Silagy. “That’s why FPL always prepares for hurricanes and severe weather year-round and we urge our customers to remain vigilant. Our preparedness helps other communities who need assistance getting the lights back on for their customers. This mutual assistance is a hallmark of the utility industry and we are eager to help our fellow Americans, as we did after Hurricane Ida devastated Louisiana.”

More than 1,250 FPL and Gulf Power employees and contractors spent three weeks helping Entergy Louisiana and Cleco restore power after Ida left more than 1 million homes and businesses in Louisiana and Mississippi without power. FPL also provided critical structures to repair main transmission lines and more than 150 power poles and other equipment to help rebuild neighborhood power lines. To support the most severely damaged areas of Louisiana, FPL sent two Community Response Vehicles, which provided charging stations and WiFi for customers without power.

FPL prepares year-round for hurricane season by conducting extensive training exercises for its employees and by continuing to build a stronger, smarter, more storm-resilient energy grid. Investments in storm hardening and smart grid technology also help FPL customers on a day-to-day basis. FPL’s reliability has improved more than 40% over the last decade.

Continuing to provide its more than 5.6 million customers with the nation’s most reliable energy has once again resulted in FPL receiving the ReliabilityOne® National Reliability Award, presented by PA Consulting, for the sixth time in seven years. FPL also received the ReliabilityOne® Outstanding System Resiliency Award. Gulf Power has improved reliability 50% since becoming part of the FPL family in 2019 and reported its best year ever in 2020. Gulf Power was recognized for the second consecutive year with the ReliabilityOne® Award for Outstanding Reliability Performance in the Southeast suburban/rural service area.

Florida Power & Light Company 

Florida Power & Light Company is the largest vertically integrated rate-regulated electric utility  in the U.S. as measured by retail electricity produced and sold. The company serves more than 5.6 million customer accounts supporting more than 11 million residents across Florida with clean, reliable and affordable electricity. FPL operates one of the cleanest power generation fleets in the U.S and in 2021 won the ReliabilityOne^® National Reliability Excellence Award for the sixth time in the last seven years. The company was 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 2021 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.  

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