Restoration Plan
FPL has been supplying electricity to Florida since 1925 and is now the largest publicly owned electric utility in the state. It provides service to nearly 8 million people, or about half the state of Florida. FPL produces electricity at 14 sites and delivers this through a system that includes over 1 million poles and more that 70,000 miles of overhead and underground transmission and distribution lines.
Visit Electrifying Journey to learn how electricity travels from our facilities to your home or business.
How FPL restores power after a storm
A strong storm or hurricane can cause significant damage, resulting in widespread power outages. FPL has developed an efficient process that helps prioritize restoration efforts, starting with facilities that provide the most critical services:
- Damaged FPL power plants and power lines from the plants, since these must be fixed before service can be restored anywhere.
- Organizations that provide critical infrastructure functions to the community, such as hospitals, police, and fire stations.
- Major power lines that serve large numbers of customers.
- Smaller power lines such as service to a single street.
- Individual homes or businesses still without power.
Skilled employees, dedicated to quickly restore your power
FPL crews are specially-trained technicians whose primary job after a storm is to repair damage and restore power. FPL coordinates crews from other states, who travel to Florida as soon as possible, and dispatches them to areas without power. Both repair crews and supplies are positioned near areas with the greatest damage to speed restoration and reduce response time.
Your power is out and that matters to us
Does FPL know my power is out? Not always. If you are without power, call 1-800-4 OUTAGE..
Q. Why do FPL crews leave my neighborhood when I still don’t have power?
A. Crews may have to leave your area before power is restored for several reasons:
- Before any repairs begin, FPL personnel survey storm-damaged areas to immediately address dangerous situations.
- The damage may be between the source of power and your area.
- We may need to work on a problem that will restore power to a greater number of customers.
Q. Why does my neighbor have power and I don’t?
A. Storm damage can affect main power lines, individual circuits or both. Your individual circuit could be damaged or your home could be on a different main power line than your neighbors. Your home may also need internal electrical repairs before you can receive service.
Q. How long will I be without power?
A. FPL works aggressively to restore power as quickly as possible after a storm, sometimes bringing in crews from other states to assist. While we may not be able to tell you exactly when your power will be restored, when you call 1-800-4 OUTAGE or visit www.FPL.com you can receive updates on our efforts to restore service.
Keeping safe during a power outage
When a power outage occurs, your safety is our main concern. Here are some basic tips that will keep you, your family and your employees safe while the power is out:
- Assume all cables and wires are energized and stay away.
- Keep away from flooded and debris-laden areas because they may be hiding downed lines.
- Run your portable generator outside your house or building, and connect appliances or equipment directly to it.
- If you leave your home, turn off appliances that may have been on when the power went out, or turn off your main breaker.
- Avoid driving in damaged areas. You might interfere with rescue or restoration efforts, as well as jeopardize your own safety.
We also care about the safety of our employees. We do not ask them to make repairs when conditions are unsafe or if the damaged area is flooded or inaccessible. In these extreme situations, we depend on your patience and understanding until we can restore power safely.
What’s FPL doing about power disturbances down the line?
FPL realizes how disruptive power disturbances can be to your life. We have made it our priority to upgrade our system each year to reduce the number of power disturbances you experience and improve the time it takes to restore power when you experience an outage. This investment has resulted in the average length of each power outage being cut in half and has minimized the number of interruptions FPL customers experience.
What’s FPL doing to prevent electricity problems?
Florida ’s high incidence of lightning and windstorms makes it impossible to completely eliminate outages and power disturbance problems, yet FPL continues to aggressively pursue new technologies and other steps to improve the quality and reliability of your electric service, such as:
- Replacing aging power lines and cables.
- Clearing power lines of trees and vegetation on a routine basis.
- Adding and upgrading lightning protection.
- Improving the way we maintain and inspect transformers.
- Performing proactive and regular maintenance of power lines.
By taking these measures to improve and maintain our system, we can minimize those annoying “flickers” and “blips” and provide more reliable electric service for our customers.
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