Florida Power & Light Company completes service restoration to customers affected by Hurricane Hermine in line with pre-storm commitment

- With service restoration complete, FPL is offering 300 restoration personnel to help sister Florida utilities restore power to their respective customers

- Billions in investments in FPL's grid are benefiting customers in terms of fewer outages and faster restoration times

- FPL urges customers to stay prepared for the possibility of more tropical weather this season

News provided by

Florida Power & Light Company

Sep 03, 2016, 11:11 ET

JUNO BEACH, Fla., Sept. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) today announced that service restoration is complete for customers who were affected by Hurricane Hermine, in line with its pre-storm commitment to restore power to the majority of affected customers within 24 hours of the storm's passing.

"The fact that we were able to restore power to more than 110,000 customers within 24 hours following Hermine's passing is further evidence that the significant investments we've been making in our electric grid during the past decade are clearly providing benefits for our customers," said Eric Silagy, president and chief executive officer of FPL. "These investments, which include hardening our electrical system, upgrading our power lines and poles to be stronger and more resilient, and leveraging technology and the benefits of our 4.8 million smart meters, have resulted in one of the most advanced smart grids in the nation. In short, these investments helped reduce the number of outages our customers experienced during Hurricane Hermine, and for those who did experience an outage, helped us restore their service much faster."

FPL participates in a mutual assistance program with other electric utilities from across the nation. As part of that program, today FPL is making available 300 contract restoration personnel to help sister Florida utilities restore power to their customers. The company also is offering support to out-of-state utilities should the need arise. Other utilities have sent crews to help FPL customers after major storms, and FPL is happy to help restore power to those affected by Hermine.

"Living in Florida, we are susceptible to severe weather conditions throughout the year," said Silagy. "Hurricane Hermine serves as a stark reminder of this reality, and all of us who live and work here need to remember the National Hurricane Center's forecast of a very active 2016 hurricane season, taking the time now to make plans and preparations well before the next storm strikes."

The company offers storm preparation and safety tips at FPL.com/storm, including a downloadable guide for customers' homes and families. In addition, customers can stay in touch through:

Twitter: twitter.com/insideFPL
Facebook: facebook.com/FPLconnect

Florida Power & Light Company
Florida Power & Light Company is the third-largest electric utility in the United States, serving more than 4.8 million customer accounts or more than 10 million people across nearly half of the state of Florida. FPL's typical 1,000-kWh residential customer bill is approximately 30 percent lower than the latest national average and, in 2015, was the lowest in Florida among reporting utilities for the sixth year in a row. FPL's service reliability is better than 99.98 percent, and its highly fuel-efficient power plant fleet is one of the cleanest among all utilities nationwide. The company received the top ranking in the southern U.S. among large electric providers, according to the J.D. Power 2016 Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study^SM, and was recognized in 2016 as one of the most trusted U.S. electric utilities by Market Strategies International. A leading Florida employer with approximately 8,800 employees, FPL is a subsidiary of Juno Beach, Fla.-based NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE), a clean energy company widely recognized for its efforts in sustainability, ethics and diversity, and has been ranked No. 1 in the electric and gas utilities industry in Fortune's 2016 list of "World's Most Admired Companies." NextEra Energy is also the parent company of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which, together with its affiliated entities, is the world's largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun. For more information about NextEra Energy companies, visit these websites: www.NextEraEnergy.com, www.FPL.com, www.NextEraEnergyResources.com.