HomeMy Public PortalAboutMiami Herald Articles.tif1" dgG 1 01 3
MiamiHerald.com
News I Business 1 Sports I Entertainment l Tropical Life 1 City Guide I Shop Local 1 Classifieds [ Jobs I Cars I Homes
Back to Miami Herald >
Archives & Research Center
Search Archives
For
Miami Herald (archives from 1982 - Current)
El Nuevo Herald (archives from 1982 - Current)
NewsLibrary.com (archived articles from hundreds of newspapers)
Florida AND Power AND Light
Show Most recent matches first
Redeem Coupon
December 18, 2005
Section: Business
Edition: Final
Page: 1E
From all documents
• Advanced Search • Help
• Basic Search • FAQ
Return to results
Miami Herald, The (FL)
• Pricing
FPL WEIGHS STORM PLANS, BUDGETS
JOHN DORSCHNER, jdorschner@herald.com
In what one executive described as a "big shift," Florida Power & Light is reanalyzing its
attitude toward underground lines and is increasing its tree -trimming budget by 20
percent.
Two years of intense hurricane activity - and predictions of more to come - is causing the
utility's leadership to re-examine its long -held beliefs.
"We need to understand the new economics," said Geisha Williams, the FPL vice
president who leads the storm restoration efforts, which have cost close to $2 billion the
past two years.
"Our real focus is this: We have met national electric safety standards, but is that
enough? What is the right standard - and what is the cost of implementing that?"
FPL has hired a Netherlands -based consulting firm, Kema, to examine everything from
better ways to keep tree limbs away from power lines to the strength of the power lines
themselves. The study will be led by a senior consultant, Richard Brown, who has
published more than 60 technical papers on electrical system reliability and asset
management.
1V11CL1111 1.1V1 CULL. LVI. LL111V11L V 1L+VV
rage G OI
The Kema analysis, based on FPL forensic teams gathering information from 1,700 sites,
is due by the end of January. In the meantime, here's some of what FPL is thinking:
* Underground: For the first time, FPL is analyzing whether it should volunteer to pay
some of the costs of burying lines. In the past, it has had a hard stance: It will bury only
as long as homeowners paid for it.
The company still acknowledges that going underground is hugely expensive: perhaps
$55 billion to $80 billion to bury in communities that now have overhead lines, and that
doesn't make economic sense in ordinary times. "But in a world where you have multiple
hurricanes every year, does that change the equation?" Williams asked.
Western neighborhoods with underground lines did well during Wilma, a relatively dry
hurricane. Most homes in Weston never lost power or saw lights come back on in
minutes. "We love underground," FPL President Armando Olivera said during one post -
Wilma teleconference.
But what places should be underground? Some affluent towns - Jupiter Island and Palm
Beach - are asking about the cost of underground, Williams said.
These towns could afford it, but they might not be right for underground because they're
near the coast. Coastal areas tend to flood, causing troubles for underground lines. Last
year, when Ivan hit the Panhandle, the coastal areas with buried lines were the last to
come back, Williams said.
One nettling question: If affluent communities lead the push to underground, wouldn't that
mean that the poor would be more likely to be sitting in the dark after storms?
* Tree -trimming: Though FPL in the past has defended its tree -trimming practices, it's
increasing the budget for next year from $40 million to $48 million.
Executives are also questioning their decision last year to downplay customers' requests
for trimming trees in favor of trimming each area every three years. "We need to rethink
that policy," said Williams.
They're also changing their policy about homeowners who refuse to allow FPL-contracted
workers on their property to trim trees, though the utility has the right to get to its
easement. "We have been historically hesitant to enforce" that, said Williams. "We're
going to be more aggressive."
Still, communities and residents need to do their part in not planting big trees near power
lines. "It's a shared responsibility."
* Overhead lines: Even if there's a strong move to underground, it might take 25 to 30
years to convert. Bottom line: "We will have overhead for a very long time."
FPL engineers are looking at ways to toughen up poles and lines. One possibility is being
more aggressive in using triplex, three -wire strands woven together and protected by an
outer coating. "We love triplex," said Williams, but the question is how quickly to use it to
replace bare wire.
The company is also looking at the configuration of wires on poles - sometimes they're
strung on a crossbar on top, sometimes one line above the other. They're also wondering
whether the pole -sharing arrangements with BellSouth make for a weakened system, and
whether adding lines to FPL poles - phone or cable - puts too much of a burden on them.
* Substations: During Wilma, 241 substations went down. Shortly after the storm,
1Yll1L111111V1CLI.J. .L.,,,/,1 -4111,11l V 1V V
rage 3 01 3
executives said the main problem was flying debris, perhaps leftover from Katrina, but it
later developed a theory that many went down because the transmission lines leading
into them lost power.
Other problems: The gates on the chain -link faces surrounding many substations had a
tendency to fly off and often ended up damaging equipment. The roofs of the small
concrete houses in the substations also showed signs of weakness and need to be
strengthened, Williams said.
While FPL does its rethinking, plenty of others are, too. The Public Service Commission is
planning a workshop in January about whether to "harden the infrastructure," and the
Legislature, too, may hold hearings.
NEW STRATEGY?
After two years of being hammered by hurricanes, Florida Power & Light is
contemplating changes, including:
* Paying part of the cost of undergrounding older neighborhoods
* Increasing its tree -trimming budget by 20 percent
* Paying more attention to customers asking for trees to be trimmed
* Studying poles and the lines placed on them
* Reinforcing parts of substations
Copyright (c) 2005 The Miami Herald
1V11(11111 11,1[LIU. LVI+Ullll+lll, V I, VV
rage 1 of i
MiamiHerald.com
News I Business I Sports I Entertainment 1 Tropical Life City Guide I Shop Local I Classifieds 1 Jobs I Cars I Homes
Back to Miami Herald >
Archives & Research Center
Search Archives
Miami Herald (archives from 1982 - Current)
El Nuevo Herald (archives from 1982 - Current)
NewsLibrary.com (archived articles from hundreds of newspapers)
For Florida AND Power AND Light
Show Most recent matches first From all documents
Redeem Coupon
December 18, 2005
Section: Neighbors
Edition: Final
Page: 3GS
• Advanced Search • Help • Pncing
• Basic Search • FAQ
Return to results
Miami Herald, The (FL)
BURYING POWER LINES A POSSIBILITY
ELAINE DE VALLE, edevalle@herald.com
More than 150 Coral Gables residents turned up at a town hall meeting last week to
discuss the city's preparations for - and response to - this season's spat of hurricanes.
A great part of the talk was about the delay in getting power restored to Gables homes,
which went as long as two weeks without electricity. And one thing became obviously
clear: A great majority of those who attended are willing.to spend $10,000 to get their
power lines buried.
After that dollar figure was tossed out, the hypothetical question was posed by State Rep.
Julio Robaina, R -South Miami, who has been on the front lines of the issue: "By a show
of hands, how many people would be in favor of undergrounding lines in the Gables?"
Nearly every hand shot up.
"Ninety percent of the problems we had in this state [after Wilma] came as a result of
having no power," Robaina said, citing closed gas stations and grocery stores. "There
would have been clean up to do, sure, but life would have gone on if power was there."
The city of Weston, he said, has underground lines and never lost power.
1Y11Q111111,10.1U. LVVU111V11L V 1, VV
rageL01J
Jeffrey Bartel, vice president of external affairs for Florida Power & Light, said it was an
expensive proposition and that even with underground lines, power can still be lost if a
storm causes flooding rather than wind damage.
"The cost is enormous," said Bartel, a Mindello Street resident who didn't have power
himself for 11 days. For Coral Gables, he said, the citywide estimate was between $150
and $200 million. That translated, Bartel added, to roughly $10,000 per customer.
A Mariana Avenue man suggested a general bond to fund it or spreading the cost out
over several years.
But Robaina - who knows something about utilities as a former tech for BellSouth - said
there could also be Federal Emergency Management Agency funds to help: "There's a
FEMA program that will pay up to 75 percent of the costs. They figure it's better to be
preventative than to come here and spend $100 million on water and ice."
He said utilities could share some of the costs by sharing the underground infrastructure,
and that the state could also look for money to contribute to the effort.
"I'm not telling you it's the entire solution. But we can't stay status quo. We must have
some changes," Robaina said.
Bartel said the power company would be happy if everyone went underground.
"We want to encourage cities to go underground. But it will take years. It will not happen
by June 2006. It will not happen by June 2007," he said, using the beginning of hurricane
season to make his point.
In fact, it would likely take from five to 15 years, Bartel said. Meanwhile, he added, the
power company, the city and residents have to work together to better manage
vegetation so that doesn't get in the way of lines.
But Enrique Lopez, who showed up with a thick binder full of research and photos he had
taken of old equipment and leaning poles, said that shouldn't be too hard.
"Today we have no trees, so there is limited vegetation to be managed," Lopez said
sarcastically. He added that the state's Public Service Commission has found FPL is not
complying with rules because the company does not have a procedure for pole
inspection.
He said the southeast corner of his home had a new pole - next to an old pole that had
never been disengaged. And he had dozens of other examples throughout the city.
Other complaints included:
* Nonstorm related outages.
"My power went out two nights ago. There was no hurricane," said John Madril, who
says he often has two to three outages a week.
"We are working to help people who have frequent or long outages," Bartel said,
acknowledging there were pockets that had intermittent problems but insisting things
have gotten better, not worse.
"Our reliability in Coral Gables in the last 10 years has improved," Bartel said.
1,11.1111 llVl.l%J. LVl+U111V111 V 1, ,Y
1 a6'G J 01 .7
* Faulty or inadequate equipment, like lines that aren't insulated, and the inability to
communicate with FPL.
"At about Day 11 I was about tired of hearing the same recording at FPL," said Joe
Brickell, a dentist and Sienna Avenue resident who said he kept getting the runaround
from call takers at the power company. "I would prefer that they tell me, 'You got eight
people on your line. You need to get a tent.' "
He also said that when a crew finally arrived on Day 13, they needed to wait two hours for
a second crew to show up.
Bartel acknowledged the problem. "We're looking at how we can step up
communications," he said.
Copyright (c) 2005 The Miami Herald
1V11a1111 1 11/4 1 0.111. .. U111 .A1L V 11/4, VV
rage 1 Ot 2
MiamiHerald.co
News I Business I Sports I Entertainment I Tropical Life I City Guide I Shop Local I Classifieds I Jobs I Cars I Homes
Back to Miami Herald >
Archives & Research Center
Search Archives
Miami Herald (archives from 1982 - Current)
El Nuevo Herald (archives from 1982 - Current)
NewsLibrary.com (archived articles from hundreds of newspapers)
For Florida AND Power AND Light
Show Most recent matches first From all documents
Redeem Coupon
December 22, 2005
Section: Business
Edition: Final
Page: 1C
• Advanced Search • Help
• Basic Search • FAQ
Return to results
Miami Herald, The (FL)
azo
• Pricing
CITIES PUSH FOR BETTER POWER
JOHN DORSCHNER, jdorschner@MiamiHerald.com
In another indication of how much voters and politicians are concerned about Florida
Power & Light's performance, Gov. Jeb Bush sat down with the Coral Gables City
Commission Wednesday to discuss how the electrical system can be strengthened to
better withstand hurricanes.
Coral Gables politicians aren't alone. In Hollywood, an agency is investing $8 million in
burying power lines near the beach, and Hollywood's city commission may force some
homeowners to pay for connecting to underground lines if they're installed in their
neighborhoods. Palm Beach also is considering "hardening" its electrical infrastructure
and may bury some lines.
Bush told Gables commissioners "there is no simple answer." While underground lines
may help in some areas, they may not do well in shoreline neighborhoods prone to
flooding - a sentiment echoed by FPL executives.
The governor said the key question for policymakers is what was behind the huge failure
that knocked out 98 percent of customers during Wilma. "How much was a lack of
maintenance and how much was due to the winds?"
"We don't want to go to war with anyone," Coral Gables Mayor Donald Slesnick told
v V VV Llvl aly LVl, ullll,ll 1. Ll,ll V VI
rage 1 OIL
MiamiHerald.co
News 1 Business 1 Sports 1 Entertainment 1 Living 1 City Guide { Shopping 1 Jobs 1 Cars 1 Homes
Archives
Article Search Results (Articles older than 7 days) Archive Advanced Search 1 Archive Search
Search Articles -last 7 days
for Florida Power and Light
Go
Note: Searching is always free. There is a $2.95 fee to view the full -text of any article.
Check out our Pricing Options.
Miami Herald, The (FL)
December 25, 2005
Section: Neighbors
Edition: Final
Page: 3GS
GOV. BUSH CALLS FOR POWER LINE TASK FORCE
JASMINE KRIPALANI, For The Miami Herald
Gov. Jeb Bush wants a Coral Gables task force on the city's utility and power
infrastructure to present its findings by March 1 - so that state lawmakers can review
recommendations for this spring's legislative session in Tallahassee.
Bush, a Coral Gables resident whose home lost power for nine days after Hurricane
Wilma, met with the Coral Gables City Commission Wednesday for an hour about Florida
Power & Light's delays restoring power after the October storm.
Bush told Coral Gables city leaders that the state "might" consider helping the city pay to install
power lines underground or offer residents tax credits for doing so.
Burying power lines has been a big topic in the City Beautiful. The estimated cost: $200 million,
or about $10,000 per customer, according to FP&L. Mayor Don Slesnick said it could take as
long as 20 years to replace all lines throughout the city.
At a Dec. 13 town hall meeting on hurricane recovery, a majority of those who attended raised
their hands, saying they'd be willing to foot the bill.
"A decision could be made in the coming year," said Slesnick, who also chairs a Miami -Dade
League of Cities mayoral committee that will address power restoration issues.
One possibility, Slesnick said, is to bury underground lines in some portions of the city as "test
cases."
Slesnick acknowledged that putting lines underground "is not infallible" and FPL has said that
buried cables are vulnerable during flooding and heavy winds which topple trees that uproot
cables.
The meeting at City Hall was open to the public, as required by law. But because it was
considered a workshop, the public wasn't allowed to speak.
1 a6'G 1 V1 3
MiamiHerald.com
News 1 Business 1 Sports 1 Entertainment 1 Tropical Life l City Guide 1 Shop Local 1 Classifieds 1 Jobs l Cars 1 Homes
Back to Miami Herald >
Archives & Research Center
Search Archives
Miami Herald (archives from 1982 - Current)
El Nuevo Herald (archives from 1982 - Current)
NewsLibrary.com (archived articles from hundreds of newspapers)
For Florida AND Power AND Light
Show Most recent matches first From all documents
Redeem Coupon
• Advanced Search • Help • Pricing
• Basic Search • FAQ
Return to results
Miami Herald, The (FL)
January 6, 2006
Section: Broward & State
Edition: Broward
Page: 1B
JEB: BIG BUCKS TO STORMPROOF
GARY FINEOUT, gfineout@MiamiHerald.com
After watching the state endure devastating hurricanes over the past two years, Gov. Jeb
Bush wants to spend $565 million in the coming year to help the state prepare and
withstand the next round of deadly storms.
Bush, who came under criticism for the delayed response efforts during Hurricane Wilma
in October, wants to use the money on everything from helping shore up homes built
before stronger building codes, buying generators for special -needs shelters to expanding
the state's hurricane sales tax holiday.
"Hurricanes are a fact of life in Florida and every Floridian needs to have a plan for
hurricane season," said Bush, who will announce his funding proposal today in Orlando.
"Our ability to respond and recover from a hurricane is critical to our economy and quality
of life."
The total cost of Bush's proposals, which will go before the Florida Legislature this
spring, is $565 million. The majority of money Bush wants will go to housing programs,
including $25 million for one to help farmworkers and the disabled, and $177 million to
build and repair rental housing.
Bush said he was convinced that many homes damaged by Hurricane Wilma could have
1agQ 01J
withstood the storm if they had stronger roofs or hurricane shutters.
"It was just tragic," said Bush. "More homes were uninhabitable in Wilma than the 2004
storms. It's because it's a mature area. You don't have row after row of new housing
developments. In order to get to the place where we can recover very quickly no matter
what hits us we've got to deal with existing housing."
The funding for Bush's proposals would come from a combination of federal relief money
as well as revenue from the state's red-hot real estate market.
Also included on the list of spending items will be $42 million for another hurricane sales
tax holiday; Bush proposes to allow residents to buy up to $300 worth of lumber and a
$1,000 generator without paying sales taxes.
The governor also wants $5.3 million for a public relations campaign to urge Floridians to
better prepare for storms, $50 million to improve existing homes and $16.7 million to
expand existing shelters and to create a new regional shelter that could serve an entire
geographic area.
Other spending items include nearly $70 million to upgrade and improve emergency
operations centers across the state, as well as $2 million for a University of Miami training
lab for first responders.
Another of the key recommendations will be to spend $29 million on technology, studies
and other tools to better predict what areas will be severely affected by storm surge and
what areas need to be evacuated. State officials, for example, were surprised by flooding
in the Panhandle caused by Hurricane Dennis.
"The better data we have to make decisions means the fewer people we have to move
out of harm's way," said Craig Fugate, the state's emergency management director.
Bush acknowledged that his proposals don't address some key areas, including keeping
gasoline flowing for generators and ensuring that electric power is restored quickly.
He said he wants more information about whether massive power outages in South
Florida were caused by hurricane winds or because electric utilities did not properly
maintain their poles.
He said Thursday that he wants to discuss with Florida Power & Light and other
companies whether they can prioritize getting power restored to gas stations that are
along major roads.
KEY POINTS OF PROPOSED HURRICANE PLAN
Highlights of Gov. Bush's budget plan for hurricane preparedness:
General public:
* $5.3 million: Public education campaign to build a "culture of preparedness"
* $42 million: Sales tax holiday for hurricane preparation and supplies
* $50 million: Assisting homeowners in retrofitting their homes
Shelters: