Energy Smart Florida

Imagine an intelligent electric system capable of detecting problems and preventing many outages before they occur. Imagine a grid that's smart enough to report power outages, so you don't have to. Imagine having access to your hourly and daily power usage, enabling you to make more informed energy choices throughout the month. Imagine an electric grid capable of expanding the use of renewable energy sources. These are just a handful of smart grid possibilities.

A SMARTER GRID...

Customers of Florida Power & Light Company have told us that updating our grid is a priority, and we’re responding with investments that will make our grid smarter and more reliable.

ENERGY SMART FLORIDA 

Through our Energy Smart Florida initiative, FPL is investing in advanced technologies as part of our commitment to building a smarter, more reliable and more efficient electrical infrastructure.

These technologies include intelligent devices on the electric grid, enhancements to centers that monitor the performance of our grid, and 4.5 million smart meters for FPL’s customers. They enable a host of benefits, including:  

• Helping us continue to deliver reliable electric service
• Making it easier for your to manage your energy use
• Expanding the use of renewable energy sources

Initial benefits: Customers whose accounts have been transitioned to smart meters will begin experiencing improved control, convenience and service.

• More information and control:  Smart grid technologies will provide information to help you better manage your energy use throughout the month.
• Greater convenience:  Smart meters will ensure accurate meter readings without FPL ever having to access your property – even if you’re moving out of a home or relocating your business. (We will still need occasional access to perform routine maintenance on the meter.)
• Enhanced customer service:  When you call us with a billing question, we can resolve your issues more efficiently.

You will receive these benefits when the transition to smart meters has been completed in your area. This can take several months after the smart meter has been installed because there are a lot of associated communication and networking components that must be put into place to enable communication. Once all of these elements are installed, FPL performs extensive tests to verify that the performance of the system meets our strict criteria. In the interim, we will continue to read the meter manually. When the smart meter is activated, FPL will begin billing the customer based on the remote readings from the meter. You will then be able to access your detailed usage information online. 

Near-term benefits include:

• Outage prevention:  Smart grid technologies will enable FPL to prevent some outages before they occur.
• Outage identification: Advanced sensors, switches and monitoring equipment can help quickly identify an outage, reroute power around the trouble spot, and confine the outage to prevent cascading failure, while communicating the outage location for faster restoration.
• Faster restoration:  Intelligent devices throughout the electric grid will help reduce the impact of outages and they will communicate the location of outages for faster repair and restoration. Smart meters will report outages before customers ever have to call.

Future benefits: Investments in smart grid technologies today will also enable many benefits down the road.

• Achieving operational efficiencies: FPL has the lowest bills of all 55 utilities in Florida, and we’re committed to keeping them low through long-term investments such as Energy Smart Florida, which will help achieve cost savings through greater operational efficiencies.
• More customer options: Smart meters will make it possible for us to offer future products and services that will help customers better manage their energy usage.
• Expanded use of renewable energy:  Smart grid technologies will help FPL more safely, reliably and efficiently integrate “variable” renewable power, such as solar energy, into the electric grid.