TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) will hold a workshop on electric utilities’ hurricane preparedness and restoration on May 2-3, 2018 in Tallahassee.

The workshop is part of the PSC’s ongoing process of refining storm preparation and restoration programs, using data from recent hurricanes to inform future strategies for further reducing outages and restoration times.

In 2006 the PSC ordered electric utilities to put in place extensive programs to improve system resilience.  That was followed by 10 years without a major storm landfall in Florida, making the 2016-2017 hurricane seasons the first opportunity to gather performance data from the different components of the programs.

At the workshop, electric utilities will present data on preparation and restoration processes, impacts on transmission and distribution facilities, and customer communications during the 2016 and 2017 hurricane seasons. Local governments and other stakeholders will also discuss pre- and post-storm practices, policies, and communications. 

As a result of the workshop and forensic analysis of data collected, recommendations for future actions or improvements are expected to be presented at a PSC Internal Affairs meeting on June 19, 2018.

The workshop is scheduled for the following time and location:

May 2-3, 2018
9:30 a.m. 
Betty Easley Conference Center
Joseph P. Cresse Hearing Room (Room 148)
4075 Esplanade Way

A workshop agenda, fact sheet on Florida’s storm preparedness and restoration initiatives, and the presentations from Florida’s investor-owned utilities can be found here.

The workshop will be broadcast on the Florida Channel (check your local listing) and is available online at http://www.floridapsc.com/ (look for the “Watch Live Broadcast” icon on the left side of the webpage).

For additional information, visit www.floridapsc.com.

Follow the PSC on Twitter, @floridapsc.