2016 Hardening and Automated Feeder Switch (AFS) Installation Event in Plantation Fla. on June 22, 2016.
By: Sharon Aron Baron
Ever since Hurricane Wilma, FPL has been making improvements in the City of Coral Springs, including strengthening the energy grid and improving the reliability of its service for customers.
Investments into the community which also include strengthening power lines and poles, trimming trees near power lines and installing smart grid technology, have helped make the grid more reliable day-to-day and speed restoration efforts following major storms.
“Since 2006 we’ve really been trying to enhance to the grid, make it more storm resilient and smarter,” said FPL Spokesperson Bill Orlove.
Although the poles held up will during Hurricane Irma in 2017, the one cause of power outages were tree vegetation which caused issues for power equipment.
“We couldn’t restore power until those issues were taken care of,” he said.
During the course of 2019, FPL will be activity making improvements around Coral Springs by clearing and trimming 74 miles of trees and vegetation from power lines in the northeast section of the city along Riverside Drive west to University Drive, and from Atlantic Blvd. to Sample Road.
FPL will be strengthening the main power line – mostly along Lakeview Drive, and Atlantic and Southgate boulevards. They will also be inspecting 1,138 power poles and strengthening or replacing those that no longer meet FPL’s standards for strength, installing smart grid technology, including 14 automated switches on main and neighborhood power lines to help detect problems and restore service faster when outages occur, and inspecting five main power lines and equipment using infrared technology to detect issues before they cause a power interruption.
In order to avoid a power outage, the most important thing is for residents to be proactive about are trees near power lines.
Orlove stressed that residents need to properly maintain their trees and keep them away from the lines. During Hurricane Irma, the majority of damage on the grid was outside their trim zone. FPL will trim the vegetation if it’s in their right-of-way or easement.
“We can’t go into private property, said Orlove. “If customers see trees near power lines they will have crews come out and take a look at that.”
Author Profile
- Editor of Talk Media and writer for Coral Springs Talk. CST was created in 2012 to provide News, Views, and Entertainment for the residents of Coral Springs and the rest of South Florida.
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