Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
FPL opens storm center in Davie
Category 5 building is first of its kind in Broward
Florida Power & Light Co. on Thursday opened its new Category 5 storm center in Davie, the first of its kind in Broward County.
Dubbed the Gulfstream Service Center, it is one of 12 buildings statewide designed to house workers responding to power outages due to a storm. FPL provides power to more than 10 million people, or about half the state’s population.
“During a hurricane, this will be a key location,” said Bryan Olnick, vice president of distribution operations for FPL. The Juno Beach-based electric utility spent about $6 million for the 25,000-square-foot building, where 70 to 80 employees work yearround.
FPL said it is spending $55 million on the storm centers around the state, which utility customers are financing through base rates on electric bills. Ten of the buildings will be rated for Category 5 hurricanes, which have 157 mph winds or higher.
During a hurricane, more than 100 FPL employees and contract crews could ride out a storm safely and be ready to start power restoration in the new building. While they wait for the storm to pass, workers will have the comforts of air conditioning, showers and cots for sleeping.
“We can be ready to respond, to get out and restore power quickly,” Olnick said.
When all 12 centers are complete, 1,000 crew members could be housed around the state. FPL will still have to bring in out-of-state workers and find hotels for them, however. During September’s Hurricane Irma, 19,000 workers came to Florida.
Seven buildings are planned in South Florida, to be completed by year’s end. Two in Palm Beach County — in Boynton Beach and Jupiter — opened in 2017.
FPL recently completed a storm center in north Miami-Dade County
and is finishing one in western Miami-Dade, Olnick said.
The sites were chosen so workers have only a 30-minute drive to reach the most densely populated areas in FPL’s service territory, according to spokesman Bill Orlove.
Last September, restoration took 10 days after Hurricane Irma left the state. Many customers complained they weren’t able to get accurate restoration times from FPL, whose mobile app and online system were overwhelmed after Irma.
With a re-engineered mobile app and power outage communications system, Olnick said he expects FPL will be able to give better estimates of restoration times this hurricane season, which began June 1.
“We’ve made a lot of enhancements,” he said. “We’ve tested it with multiple volumes like we had during Irma. We’re real confident it’s going to work much better this year.”
FPL said it has spent nearly $3 billion in upgrades for its electric grid since 2006. Hurricane Irma served as the first test of the upgrade. Despite a stronger grid, the storm knocked out power to 90 percent of customers, which FPL blames mostly on overgrown vegetation.
Florida’s Public Service Commission met Tuesday to discuss potential recommendations for the state’s electric utilities to better prepare and more quickly recover from storms. An audit of utilities’ power restoration processes and times is among the items being considered by commissioners for action later this summer.