Eliecer Viamontes

FPL works hard every day to deliver the lowest electric bills in the state. One way we keep costs down is by tapping into the expertise of our employees.

Florida's lush landscape is beautiful to look at, but it can lead to power outages. Tree limbs and branches, especially palm fronds, are among the most common causes of power outages and flickers. But, there's much more beyond what you can see that could cause a momentary power interruption.

Six Sigma Black Belt Eliecer Viamontes in FPL's vegetation management group took part in a quality project to reduce the number of customers who experience multiple power interruptions. Throughout the project, the importance of the company's Thermovision infrared cameras became clear.

Why is infrared technology helpful?

Special infrared cameras may help us detect and address issues with our power lines and equipment before they cause problems for our customers. We inspect thousands of miles of our power lines every year, resulting in fewer power disturbances for our customers. We can find vulnerable sections of our power lines and equipment and repair or replace them to ensure reliable service.

What are the most common causes of momentary interruptions?

It just takes one palm frond or tree branch touching a power line to cause a brief power interruption (less than 60 seconds) and some causes are invisible to the naked eye.

How successful are your efforts around reliability?

FPL customers enjoy more than 99.98 percent service reliability.