PDi2 Playbook

STEP 4. OBTAINING APPROVAL 20 CASE STUDY III – LEGISLATIVE PATH APPROVAL Florida Power & Light – Process flow used to get state legislation approval in FL for undergrounding efforts. CHALLENGE  The 2004 hurricane season was the most active on record in Florida. In the wake of Hurricanes Charlie, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne, Florida suffered widespread damage and destruction to private homes and buildings, roads, bridges, and other public infrastructure. In the aftermath of each storm, widespread outages of electric service were experienced throughout the state. Because of the tracks taken by each storm, electric service in virtually every county in Florida was affected.  The Florida Public Service Commission (FPSC) developed a set of hardening rules and then validated that these rules work to strengthen the state’s infrastructure while keeping costs down for customers. The collection of infrastructure performance data took 10 years as no major storm landfall occurred in Florida, until the 2016 and 2017 hurricane seasons when the first opportunity to gather performance data occurred. SOLUTION  In October 2004, the staff of the Committee on Utilities and Telecommunications, Florida House of Representatives, requested a study proposal from the FPSC on the cost of undergrounding electric facilities in Florida. The FPSC ordered electric utilities to implement extensive activities to improve system resilience beginning in 2006.  A decade later, performance data was collected during the 2016 and 2017 hurricane seasons.  The Florida State Senate passed SB796 that could lead to more underground power lines in Florida, with increased costs to consumers. The measure passed 37-2 with little debate. RESULT  In July 2018, the FPSC issued its report on electric utility hurricane preparedness and restoration actions and found that, overall, the length of power outages was reduced, indicating that storm hardening and undergrounding practices work. The report's key findings include the following: o The length of utility power outages was reduced from the baseline 2004-2005 storm season. o Hardened/underground distribution facilities performed better than non-hardened facilities. o Power outages primarily resulted from falling trees, vegetation, and debris from outside the utility’s right-of-way. o The Commission also identified several issues the Legislature might consider:  A statewide public education program on tree trimming.  Possible legislation to require inspection and hardening of non-electric utility poles. o The report confirms that FPSC's storm hardening rules are working and also identified areas that can be improved, such as utility undergrounding programs, customer communications, and tree-trimming coordination with local governments. REFERENCE CONTACT  Randy Fine, Florida District: 53 (Southern Part Brevard County, City of Palm Bay) – Republican, Capitol Office - (850) 717-5053, District Office - (321) 409-2017; (Legislation Sponsor - HB 797 - Public Utility Storm Protection Plans)  Manny Miranda, SVP Power Delivery, Florida Power & Light, (561) 904-3408, manny.miranda@fpl.com SOURCES  #22, #30, #69, #70, #71, #73, #120, #146, #155, #168, #169, #180, #181

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjE3MDU=