JUNO BEACH, Fla. – Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) today announced that its lineworkers and support staff have returned after spending the past several weeks helping to restore power to areas impacted by Hurricane Michael. The crews returning were part of the more than 1,000 FPL employees and contractors who assisted four energy companies to restore power to the Florida Panhandle, Georgia and South Carolina.
“In the aftermath of a natural disaster, we know how important it is for all of us to come together and to help our neighbors in their greatest time of need,” said Eric Silagy, president and CEO of FPL. “Hurricane Michael was a catastrophic storm that decimated communities throughout the entire Southeast. Our team was honored to work alongside other energy companies to do our part to return normalcy to so many. We stand at the ready to provide additional assistance whenever and wherever it is needed as our fellow citizens strive to recover from this most challenging time in their lives.”
The restoration efforts took our crews to many communities that felt the brunt of Hurricane Michael, including Florida cities Altha, Blountstown, Marianna, Panama City and Bainbridge, Ga. Our crews helped restore power to nearly 16,000 homes and businesses that were unable to receive power due to the storm’s devastation.
In addition to assisting with the restoration effort, FPL provided critical mobile fueling support for Florida Highway Patrol vehicles and contractors to assist Florida’s public safety officials with initial search and rescue operations. Manny Miranda, FPL’s senior vice president of power delivery, was asked by Florida Governor Rick Scott to advise and assist with the state’s power restoration efforts, and serve as a liaison between Florida officials and FEMA, providing technical support and assistance.
“Mother Nature has a way of humbling all of us,” said Miranda, who helped restore power after such storms as Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and last year’s Hurricanes Maria and Irma. “Storms can be dangerous forces of nature. As in past storms, our dedicated men and women are willing to leave their families and work in challenging situations to help our fellow Americans in their time of need.”
Along with the restoration efforts, the NextEra Energy Foundation, the philanthropic arm of FPL and its parent company, NextEra Energy, Inc., donated $200,000 to the American Red Cross and $100,000 to Gulf Power Transformers, a 501(c)(3) charity, to support people affected by the storm. The foundation will also match up to $50,000 of individual contributions by FPL employees and NextEra Energy subsidiaries to provide assistance to employees of Gulf Power.
Florida Power & Light Company
Florida Power & Light Company is the third-largest electric company 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 electric companies 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.