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FPL Director Armando Pimentel discusses the balance between storm protection and low energy costs

Umito October 31, 2024

After three big hurricanes impacted Florida in as many months, Florida Power & Light (FPL) experienced outages across the state. To a large extent, this is not avoidable, FPL President and CEO said. Armando Pimenteladding that his company is working to perfect the restoration process.

“When we say we have reliable energy, we need to back that up,” he said. “We have invested billions and billions of dollars in our network so that we can restore power as quickly as possible in the event of a storm. »

But he spoke to the participants of a Florida Tax Oversight the goal has never been to completely protect the state from bad weather, regardless of imaginable circumstances.

“No gate is storm proof, is it? If a big storm hits, it’s likely some people will lose power,” he said. “We’re not investing to make sure you don’t lose power. Do you know why? Because you don’t want that bill, do you? Because we could invest enough so that no one would ever lose their power, but our bill would not be 40% lower than the rest of the country.

Pimentel discussed the evolution of FPL utilities, showing attendees slides of mule-drawn rail cars carrying primitive equipment to meet energy needs in the 1920s. Then he showed today’s facilities, with digitally mined workers a much larger network.

He emphasized that the goal of utilities is always to ensure that 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 network, including through alternative and sustainable energy sources.

He also praised the merits of the FPL 35 mules program, which provides space for startups at its Juno Beach offices.

“We select a handful each year, we give them some start-up capital, we give them some expertise, we give them some space, we allow them to flourish,” he said. “Several of these companies have been very, very successful and are building spaces right here in Palm Beach County and across the state. This is our way of fostering economic development in Florida.

Florida TaxWatch held its event at Breakers in Palm Beach, near FPL headquarters. For the event, Palm Beach County Mayor Maria Sachs presented a certificate declaring Wednesday as Florida TaxWatch Day in the county.