This
event marked the first time FPL executives, TV meteorologists and
government forecasters have met to discuss their shared
responsibilities during hurricane season.
Juno
Beach, FL (May 26, 2012) -- With hurricane season fast
approaching, Florida
Power & Light Company invited South Florida
meteorologists to its new, category 5-resistant command center in
Riviera Beach to meet its own meteorologist, Tim Drum, and to learn
how weather forecasting drives FPL’s response to storms.
“FPL
plays such an integral part in not only the hurricanes, but what we
do before and after the hurricanes, that I think this communication
and collaboration is fantastic,” said Steve Weagle, chief
meteorologist for WPTV, Newschannel 5 in West Palm Beach.
Keith
Hardy, FPL’s vice president of Distribution, welcomed the guests.
“Weather impacts just about everything we do here at FPL,” he
said.
Drum
discussed how FPL works closely with its partners from the National
Weather Service and National Hurricane Center to develop forecasts
before big storms and throughout the year.
“A
big part of what Tim does is try to give us a heads up - ‘Hey, this
is going to occur in this specific area today at this specific time,
therefore we may need to call in additional resources or we may need
to travel resources to a particular area,’” Hardy explained.
In
advance of a tropical storm or hurricane, FPL’s forecasting allows
it to preposition crews appropriately, so they are able to get to
work restoring power to impacted customers immediately after a storm
passes. Drum also showcased technology, including the Google-based
“Restoration Spatial View,” which helps FPL leaders and field
crews pinpoint exactly where the outages are located in the company’s
expansive network of more than one million poles in 35 Florida
counties.
This
event marked the first time FPL executives, TV
meteorologists and government forecasters have met to discuss their
shared responsibilities during hurricane season. Drum praised the
meteorologists as “important communicators” and valuable partners
to help the company communicate with its 4.6 million customers
before, during and after a storm. The invited guests said they found
the tour and discussion valuable, too.
“We're
all involved in the same thing, which is communicating information,”
said John Matthews, chief meteorologist for WPEC-CBS 12 in West Palm
Beach. “And I'm really pleased to see how FPL has really stepped up
to the plate on this one.”
About
Florida Power & Light Company
Florida
Power & Light Company is the largest electric utility in Florida
and one of the largest rate-regulated utilities in the United States.
FPL serves 4.5 million customer accounts in Florida and is a leading
employer in the state with approximately 10,000 employees. The
company consistently outperforms national averages for service
reliability while customer bills are 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 is a subsidiary of Juno Beach, Fla. - based NextEra
Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE). For more information, visit
http://www.FPL.com.
Media
Contact:
Chris
de la Huerta
rbb
Public Relations
355
Alhambra Circle, Suite 800
Coral
Gables, FL 33134
305-448-7535
No comments:
Post a Comment