Florida Approves Utility Storm Protection Plans

On Monday, August 10th, the Florida Public Service Commission approved the authorization of storm protection plans (SPP) for four investor-owned utilities (TECO, FPL, Gulf Power, and Duke Energy Florida) according to an article from UtilityDive.com. This multi-billion-dollar investment will pay for undergrounding power lines and other system improvements that have proven to be successful. FPL is estimating between 300-700 power lines buried annually from 2021 to 2024.

Some experts have voiced concerns that storm hardening may be a quick fix to a long-term problem, however, FPL spokesman Bill Orlove is confident in the project. He states, “These programs have benefited customers by successfully reducing restoration costs and outage times during major storms, as well as improving day-to-day service reliability.”

Read the entire article here.