FPL Power Pole Hardening & Drone Demo in PCB

Panama City Beach, FL. – Ahead of the five-year anniversary of Hurricane Michael, Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) demonstrated how it is strengthening and modernizing the energy grid in Northwest Florida.

FPL conducted a drone assessment of a main power line in Panama City Beach, using infrared technology to proactively check equipment for potential issues before an outage occurs.

The company also replaced a wooden power pole by installing a new concrete pole, engineered to withstand extreme wind loads often brought by severe weather.

While no energy grid is hurricane-proof, upgrades like these will improve service reliability day-to-day and speed power restoration when the next storm impacts the region.

FPL says these investments in a smarter, more storm-resilient grid will help avoid prolonged outages like those experienced after Hurricane Michael in 2018. The company remains committed to delivering even better service to Northwest Florida communities.