Jacob Ogles
After three major hurricanes impacted Florida in as many months, Florida Power & Light (FPL) saw outages across the state. To a significant degree, that’s not avoidable, said FPL President and CEO Armando Pimentel, adding that his company is working to perfect the restoration process.
“When we say we have reliable power, we have to back that up,” he said. “We’ve invested billions and billions of dollars in our grid in order to make sure that if a storm comes by, then we can get the power back on as quickly as possible.”
But he told attendees of a Florida TaxWatch event that the goal has never been to completely weatherproof the state for any imaginable circumstance.
“No grid is stormproof, right? If a big storm comes, it is likely that some people are going to lose power,” he said. “We are not investing to make sure that you don’t lose power. You know why? Because you don’t want that bill right? Because we could invest enough so that nobody ever loses their power, but our bill would not be 40% lower than the rest of the nation.”
Pimentel discussed the evolution of FPL utilities, showing slides to attendees of workers’ mule-drawn wagons carrying primitive gear to handle energy needs in the 1920s. Then he showed facilities today, with workers digitally minoring a much larger network.
He stressed that the goal of utilities is always to make sure the communities they serve have access to energy in order to keep the rest of the economy and public sector running.
He also said FPL was committed to modernizing its grid, including through alternative and sustainable energy sources.
He also touted FPL’s 35 Mules program, which provides startup space in its Juno Beach offices.
“We select a handful every year, we give them some seed money, we give them some expertise, we give them some space, we allow them to flourish,” he said. “Several of those companies have done very, very well and are building spaces right here in Palm Beach County and across the state. It is our way of furthering economic development in Florida.”
Florida TaxWatch held its event at The Breakers in Palm Beach, near the FPL headquarters. For the event, Palm Beach County Mayor Maria Sachs presented a certificate declaring Wednesday as Florida TaxWatch Day in the county.
