FPL adds COVID-19 precautions to hurricane preparation plans

Those precautions could add some delays to storm response times.

By Ryan Nicol
June 1, 2020

A late June hurricane prep session for Florida Power & Light (FPL) employees will include several new restrictions to comply with social distancing and safety recommendations amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

The company plans to do a hurricane response dry run for more than 3,000 employees from June 22-26. This hurricane season, however, features an additional hurdle with the existence of the novel coronavirus. Storms require FPL employees to arrive on-site to help restore power to homes and neighborhoods. That can be difficult in an era of social distancing.

The company says it will require workers to undergo daily health screenings before doing on-site power restoration work.

The company did caution customers that these precautions may lead to some added delays in the event of a storm strike.

“FPL is asking customers for their patience if severe weather strikes during the pandemic,” a statement from the company reads. “FPL’s commitment to work around the clock to restore everyone’s power will not change, but it could take longer to do so under these extraordinary circumstances.”

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