Top Florida utility officials said Tuesday increased intensity and unpredictability of hurricanes is making storm preparation more difficult 鈥� and expensive.
Leaders of utility companies and associations representing municipal utilities and electric cooperatives made presentations to the Florida Public Service Commission as the six-month hurricane season gets ready to start June 1.
Armando Pimentel, president and CEO of Florida Power & Light, and Archie Collins, president and CEO of Tampa Electric Co., said the greater unpredictability will cause utilities to take what Pimentel described as a 鈥渃onservative鈥� approach to preparing for storms. For example, while a storm might be projected as a Category 1 hurricane, utilities will prepare for a Category 2 or 3 storm.
鈥淚t is very clear that there is more damage, for whatever reason,鈥� Pimentel said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 clearly more people. There鈥檚 clearly more buildings. There鈥檚 clearly an intensification going on. But there鈥檚 more damage. And so now we have to prepare for storms a little sooner than what we had, and it鈥檚 going to be a little bit more costly than what we had.鈥�
Pimentel and Collins pointed to examples such as last year鈥檚 Hurricane Idalia and 2022鈥檚 Hurricane Ian, which gained strength and took unpredictable paths before making landfall as devastating storms.
鈥淚t is becoming an increasingly difficult game to figure out how to find that balance between being well-prepared and not overspending on planning for an impending hurricane,鈥� Collins said.
Forecasters are predicting a busier-than-normal hurricane season this year, in part because of warm Atlantic Ocean water that fuels storms.
The state鈥檚 four private electric utilities 鈥� FPL, Tampa Electric, Duke Energy Florida and Florida Public Utilities Co. 鈥� typically are allowed to pass along costs for hurricane preparations and recovery to customers. That can include the costs of bringing in thousands of crew members from other parts of Florida and other states to restore power after storms hit.
Utility executives said Tuesday those efforts can become more complicated when utilities in nearby states are hesitant to send crews to Florida because of concerns their own states might get hit.
In bringing in crews, Melissa Seixas, state president of Duke Energy Florida, said utilities 鈥渁re literally staging an army. We鈥檝e got to house them, we鈥檝e got to feed them. We鈥檝e got to get their clothes washed. And of course, we need to help keep them safe.鈥�
She said her company benefits from being able to bring in other Duke crews from South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana.
Public Service Commission member Gabriella Passidomo said with increased intensification of storms, 鈥渢o be prepared for that is going to necessarily be more costly until forecasting technology vastly improves.鈥�
鈥淭here鈥檚 a balance there. Of course, customers care tremendously about restoration and getting their power back on,鈥� Passidomo said. 鈥淏ut affordability goes hand in hand with that, and so we鈥檙e just trying to balance.鈥�
The utility officials said they are trying to be prepared.
鈥淭he waters are warm again this year,鈥� Pimentel said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e all cognizant of that. That鈥檚 what we鈥檙e going to prepare for this year.鈥�
Copyright 2024 WUSF Public Media - WUSF 89.7
