Florida Power & Light Deploys Crews to Puerto Rico to Help Speed up Power Restoration Efforts

On Jan. 8, 2018, Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) deployed 140 additional lineworkers and support staff to Puerto Rico to help restore power to areas impacted by Hurricane Maria’s landfall. Hundreds of thousands of people remain without electric service nearly four months after the destructive storm devastated the island.

“As part of FPL’s commitment to helping restore electric service to our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico, our dedicated employees worked tirelessly throughout the holidays – both on the island and here at home – to prepare for this next wave of support,” said Eric Silagy, president and CEO of FPL. “Providing mutual assistance is a staple of the energy industry, and our thoroughly trained, well-equipped lineworkers are ready to hit the ground running once they arrive in Puerto Rico. We know just how difficult it is to be without power, which is why we are prepared to remain in Puerto Rico for as long as our assistance and expertise is requested.”

All of the island’s 3.5 million residents lost power due to Hurricane Maria in late September. FPL lineworkers and staff are part of a nearly 1,500-person contingent of electric workers from across the country. In late December, FPL began to transport vehicles and electric equipment via barges to Puerto Rico from the Port of Fort Pierce in St. Lucie County, Florida.

The company’s lineworkers and support staff will work with the 10-person FPL Incident Management Team (IMT) that has been working in Puerto Rico since Dec. 10, 2017. FPL employees represent one of seven IMT assigned to seven regions across the island in coordination with the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and electric company contractors who already are restoring power. FPL’s IMT will continue to support power restoration in the region of Bayamon, just west of San Juan.

“We feel a responsibility to help speed power restoration in Puerto Rico, partly because many of our customers and employees have strong ties to the island, but largely because it’s the right thing to do,” said Manny Miranda, senior vice president of power delivery for FPL. “Having completed the unprecedented restoration of more than 4.4 million FPL customers following Hurricane Irma, I am confident our highly skilled team of lineworkers, management and support staff will quickly begin making a difference for so many of our fellow Americans.”