Florida Power & Light enhances energy grid with planned upgrades in Sarasota County

Throughout 2024, Florida Power and Light Company (FPL) plans to make upgrades in Sarasota as part of its ongoing commitment to avoid outages and restore power faster following severe weather. In the local community, FPL is planning 45 Storm Secure Underground Program (SSUP) projects to replace overhead neighborhood power lines with more reliable underground lines. Maintaining trees and vegetation is also a priority, as it is a common cause of power outages, particularly during hurricanes and extreme weather along 2,246 miles of local power lines. FPL crews are inspecting 18,146 power poles in Sarasota as part of an eight-year inspection cycle, strengthening or replacing those that no longer meet FPL’s industry-leading standards.

The FPL team continuously leverages new and innovative technologies to improve reliability for its customers. This year, the company is piloting the installation of automated underground switches, which will help detect and isolate outages, further enhancing the reliability of underground lines. Crews also use “smart trimming” technology to identify and trim trees and other vegetation contacting power lines. Smart trimming also helps the company identify areas of concern and assign the work electronically, saving inspection time.

Cumulative improvements in the Sarasota area: When the planned 2024 work is completed, FPL will have made the following improvements since 2006:

• Completed 219 SSUP projects.
• Strengthened 114 main power lines, including those that serve critical services.
• Inspected and maintained vegetation near 9,717 miles of power lines – an average of 540 miles per year.
• Inspected 168,909 power poles for strength.
• Installed smart grid technology, including 4,255 automated switches on main and neighborhood power lines.

“We are so pleased to be able to offer these system upgrades to our customers in Sarasota County,” says Stephen North, local area manager at FPL. “Our dedicated team at FPL is committed to providing you with safe and reliable electric service. These upgrades, including the very latest grid technology, will help get the lights back on faster after storms.” 

An annual report filed March 1 with the Florida Public Service Commission details how FPL delivered the best service reliability in company history last year. In the most recent statistics from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, FPL’s service reliability was nearly three times better than the national average.