FPL holds power pole hardening and drone demo in Ormond Beach

Ormond Beach Observer
Your Town

Florida Power and Light held a live demonstration to showcase the company's drone capabilities and storm-hardened power poles in Ormond Beach on Wednesday, Oct. 4.

The company is wrapping up a 17-year effort to harden nearly 2,000 miles of power lines serving homes and critical community facilities such as hospitals and 911 centers in Volusia County and Central Florida, according to a press release.

The demonstration took place at Michael Crotty Bicentennial Park. FPL installed a storm-hardened power pole, built to withstand extreme wind loads and reduce outage times following severe weather. FPL also conducted a drone flight to highlight how it uses technology to proactively assess the energy grid.

During the event, FPL installed a storm-hardened power pole. Courtesy photo

"For more than a decade, FPL has worked to make its system stronger and more storm-resilient by hardening main power lines across the state to withstand extreme wind loads," the press release stated. "That includes replacing smaller, wooden poles with stronger wood, concrete or steel. As part of its initiative, FPL also conducts more than 400 drone flights every day, proactively assessing FPL equipment to help avoid customer interruptions and outages. These improvements helped speed restoration for customers following Hurricane Ian one year ago and are designed to improve day-to-day service reliability as well."