FPL recognized with industry honors for innovative projects

JUNO BEACH, Fla., June 26, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) today announced that two of its more challenging infrastructure projects and a new customer service platform were recognized by the Southeastern Electric Exchange (SEE) during its awards ceremony on June 25 in Orlando. The projects, which were honored with the organization's Excellence Awards, were judged by several criteria, including innovation, improvements, requirements met and technical complexity.

In addition, the company received an award for achieving top performance for nuclear generation safety.

"FPL is honored to be recognized by the Southeastern Electric Exchange for the efforts of our Power Delivery, Customer Service, Information Management and Nuclear teams, which ultimately provide short- and long-term benefits for our customers," said Eric Silagy, president and CEO of FPL. "At FPL, we take great pride in delivering a value proposition that is second to none, highlighted by clean and reliable electricity, award-winning customer service, and the lowest bill in the state of Florida, which is well below the national average."

The award-winning projects include:

Squeeze Play: Integrating 700 MW into an Existing Transmission Corridor – To support the new Riviera Beach Next Generation Clean Energy Center in Riviera Beach, Fla., a team from FPL's Transmission & Substation organization planned, reconfigured and rebuilt nearly 22 miles of transmission lines and integrated 10 miles of new transmission lines without purchasing additional property or easements. The work was finished on time, despite several challenges, including illegal structures that had been constructed within the company's easement and working around environmentally sensitive areas.

Railway Emergency/Unplanned Power Transformer Replacements – In September 2012, a large transformer experienced some challenges at a substation, which supplies power to several critical medical, police and fire-rescue facilities, along with a major arena and residential buildings in downtown Miami. The initial transformer replacement project was further complicated when monitors detected the remaining transformer was failing. Two teams oversaw the restoration effort, which included installing a mobile transformer within 26 hours, overcoming engineering and logistical challenges, and installing two new transformers in a congested urban area.  

"These two Power Delivery awards demonstrate our ability to execute, particularly on short notice, when it comes to project planning and responding to challenging situations while still providing our customers with continuous electric service," said Manny Miranda, vice president of power delivery for FPL.

Customer Experience Solution (CES) – CES was developed to provide a comprehensive view of the customer experience by collecting information that resided across multiple systems in different areas of the company. The tool provides FPL with a greater understanding of customer needs and experiences, giving a more personalized response to their inquiries.

"I'm extremely proud of our cross-functional team, which included members from Customer Service, Information Management and Power Delivery, who worked so hard to develop and deliver this one-stop-shop of customer information," said Marlene Santos, vice president of customer service for FPL. "This award recognizes that our Customer Experience Solution is a best practice that allows us to provide a more tailored response to inquiries and enhance our ability to provide excellent service to our customers."

Florida Power & Light Company
Florida Power & Light Company is the largest rate-regulated electric utility in Florida and serves the third-largest number of customers of any electric utility in the United States. FPL serves approximately 4.7 million customer accounts and is a leading Florida employer with approximately 8,900 employees as of year-end 2013. FPL's typical 1,000-kWh residential bill is the lowest among reporting electric utilities in Florida as of year-end 2013, and based on data available in July 2013, is about 28 percent below the national average. A clean energy leader, FPL has one of the lowest emissions profiles and one of the leading energy efficiency programs among utilities nationwide. FPL delivered better than 99.98 percent service reliability as of year-end 2013. FPL has earned the national ServiceOne Award for outstanding customer service for an unprecedented 10 consecutive years. FPL is a subsidiary of Juno Beach, Fla.-based NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE). For more information, visit www.FPL.com.

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SOURCE Florida Power & Light Company