State to examine utilities’ disaster readiness

Florida’s Public Service Commission, which regulates Florida Power & Light Co. and other electric utilities in the state, is scheduled Tuesday to consider recommendations for better hurricane preparedness and power restoration actions following 2017’s Hurricane Irma.

The issues that should be addressed include utilities’ meeting with local government about tree trimming and critical infrastructure identification, utility staffing practices for emergency operations centers during storms, and preparation for roadway congestion and fuel availability, according to a report filed by the commission’s division of engineering.

Commissioners also are expected to review each utility’s next storm hardening projects in the pipeline and consider alternatives, according to the draft recommendations.

Utilities operating throughout the state told the commission staff that hardened poles and other electrical equipment performed better than non-hardened equipment. Juno Beach-based FPL said underground lines were more resilient in Irma and plans a pilot program this year to put some community lines underground across the state.

There will likely be other initiatives or proposals considered at

Tuesday’s meeting, said Cindy Muir, spokeswoman for the Public Service Commission.

The commission staff also calls for examination of procedures and processes used by utilities to estimate and communicate power restoration times.

“Many customer comments that were submitted expressed frustration with inaccurate power restoration estimates. Some local government representatives also expressed similar concerns,” the report says.

Several customers and cities filed complaints about FPL’s failure to communicate after Irma. At an FPL hurricane drill in May, CEO Eric Silagy said the utility was applying “lessons learned” from Irma.

“Very little communication from FPL. FPL should make contact with city 48 hours before storm, implement distribution and street light GPS program, have FPL liaison at city or trained staff, and interactive map that provides updates,” said Boca Raton in a complaint with the commission that’s included in the report.

Wilton Manors told the commission there “should be an aggressive, proactive schedule for tree trimming … FPL should devise a plan to transition overhead [power lines] to underground, and complete a cost benefit analysis.”

The city should have a part in updating and maintaining a list of critical facilities, Wilton Manors said. “There was no way for the city to report outages to FPL, so there should be more technology resources for tracking restoration efforts.”

The recommendations follow commission-requested input from utility customers, local government, Florida’s Office of Public Counsel, which represents consumers, and other groups affected by the September hurricane, which caused widespread outages across the state.

In Broward, 76 percent of customers were out of power at Irma’s peak; 74 percent in Palm Beach County and 81 percent in Miami-Dade County, according to the report. Most of the residents and businesses in the tricounty area are customers of FPL, which provides power to half the state.

The Public Service Commission meeting, which begins at 9:30 a.m Tuesday, will be streamed at floridapsc.com. Click on “Watch Live Broadcast” on the left.