JUNO BEACH, Fla. – Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) today announced that more than 100 lineworkers and support staff safely returned from Northern California after helping restore power to areas devastated by the Camp Fire. Crews worked alongside Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) employees in and around the city of Paradise to help rebuild parts of the grid that were destroyed due to the wildfire.
“We know how important it is for all of us to come together and to help our fellow Americans in their greatest time of need,” said Eric Silagy, president and CEO of FPL. “Our team was honored to work alongside PG&E to do our part to help rebuild the grid to those devastated by this natural disaster. As we have done throughout this year, we always stand at the ready to provide additional assistance whenever and wherever it is needed for our fellow citizens when they recover from challenging events like this.”
The effort in California marks the fourth time this year that FPL crews have been deployed to assist in power restoration efforts after a natural disaster. Earlier this year, FPL crews, some working as long as three months, helped restore power in the Bayamon region of Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. FPL crews also helped restore power in the Carolinas, Florida’s Panhandle and Georgia in some of the hardest hit areas impacted by Hurricanes Florence and Michael. In addition to these events, FPL sent engineers to support the restoration effort for this month’s Winter Storm Diego in the Carolinas.
“I am so proud of our dedicated lineworkers who safely volunteered time and again to help their fellow citizens,” said Manny Miranda, senior vice president of power delivery for FPL. “For some of our lineworkers, they worked all four mutual assistance efforts, leaving their family and friends for nearly five months this year. They helped rebuild the grid and restore power to thousands, as well as providing water and other essentials to people in need.”
Florida Power & Light Company
Florida Power & Light Company is the third-largest electric utility in the United States, serving nearly 5 million customer accounts or an estimated 10 million+ people across nearly half of the state of Florida. FPL's typical 1,000-kWh residential customer bill is approximately 30 percent lower than the latest national average and among the lowest in the U.S. FPL's service reliability is better than 99.98 percent, and its highly fuel-efficient power plant fleet is one of the cleanest among all utilities nationwide. The company was recognized in 2017 as one of the most trusted U.S. electric utilities by Market Strategies International for the fourth consecutive year. A leading Florida employer with approximately 8,700 employees, 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, ethics and diversity, and has been ranked No. 1 in the electric and gas utilities industry in Fortune's 2018 list of "World's Most Admired Companies." 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. For more information about NextEra Energy companies, visit these websites: www.NextEraEnergy.com, www.FPL.com, www.NextEraEnergyResources.com.