FPL declares Northeast Florida electricity restored ahead of schedule

FP&L gets the OK to recoup hurricane expenses.

Florida Power & Light (FPL) is announcing its work reconnecting Northeast Florida customers is all but over, with electricity restored through nearly the entire region with the exception of Volusia County.

“Thanks to our restoration team’s dedication to customers, we are now concentrating all of our resources in Southwest Florida where the storm hit hardest,” Eric Silagy, Chairman and CEO of FPL, said in a statement.

“We know there are customers who are still suffering, and we appreciate their patience as we work around the clock to restore their power. While extensive tree damage and flooding will continue to pose restoration challenges, we want all of our customers to know FPL’s brave men and women will not stop until the job is done.”

Overall, FPL restored power to 1.9 million of its more than 2.1 million affected customers by Tuesday morning, and the company expects to complete the job by the end of Friday, which is two days earlier than initially predicted. Public Service Commission data shows 5% of FPL’s 5.73 million customers statewide were still without power as of Tuesday morning.

FPL also reduced its staging sites from 38 to 18 as the company shifts resources to the Southwest region of the state. Success in Volusia and Seminole counties Tuesday allowed around 1,000 workers to join their colleagues in Southwest Florida.

Restoration should be at 95% by the end of Wednesday in Collier County, south Manatee County, and Sarasota County north of Fruitville Road. Charlotte, DeSoto, Glades, Hendry, Highlands and Lee counties — along with Sarasota County south of Fruitville Road — should be up to 95% by the end of Friday, except for those areas that cannot safely accept service or remain heavily flooded. 

“Ground assessment proved challenging due to flooded and washed out roadways and bridges, but technologies like FPLAir One — the company’s fixed-wing drone which is taking to the skies again (Tuesday) — provide critical intelligence to put the right crews and the right equipment in the right places to restore power safely and as quickly as possible,” according to FPL. 

“In other instances, FPL has found new ways to survey damage — from riding airboats through DeSoto County to even deploying a kayak in Volusia County to put eyes inside a flooded substation.”