Reliability: Stronger Every Day

You can count on FPL to deliver reliable electric service, now and in the future. We’re working every day, in good weather and bad, to make our electric infrastructure stronger. As a result, our customers enjoy more than 99.98 percent service reliability.

Following the unprecedented hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005, FPL developed a comprehensive plan to make our system more storm resistant. While no utility can be completely storm-proof, our ongoing investments in storm readiness help to improve reliability year round. Our primary reliability work includes:

• Inspecting utility poles: Our utility poles must be strong to withstand Florida’s powerful winds and harsh climate. FPL inspects approximately 140,000 poles each year and repairs or replaces them, as necessary, as part of our program to inspect more than 1.1 million poles every eight years.
• Clearing vegetation from power lines: Power outages and flickers are commonly caused by tree limbs and palm fronds. We proactively clear vegetation growing near power lines to help prevent outages and flickers and keep service reliability high.
• Strengthening main power lines: Our storm preparedness program is focused on strengthening the main power lines and equipment serving critical infrastructure facilities – hospitals, 911 centers, police and others – to better withstand extreme wind conditions. See our fact sheet on strengthening the electric system for more information.

FPL uses smart technology to stop outages before they start by:

• Installing smart grid technology: We’re making smart, cost-effective investments in advanced technologies to further improve reliability and give customers more control over their energy use and costs.
• Inspecting power lines: We use advanced infrared cameras to supplement our visual inspection of overhead power lines. This technology helps us detect and address potential issues with our power lines and equipment before they affect our customers.

See our reliable electric service fact sheet for more information. To view electric system improvements in your area, see our System Improvements Map.