Florida Power & Light preparing for hurricane season with drones, concrete pole in Grant-Valkaria
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With hurricane season approaching June 1, Florida Power and Light is preparing for bad weather with the help of drones that can check for problems and help the company spot potential maintenance issues before they arise.
FPL workers demonstrated their drones Wednesday morning in Grant-Valkaria, showing how they inspect their electric poles to look for possible problems.
Drone operators direct the drone around a pole for a number of photos, using the regular wide-angle lens, the zoom lens and the infrared lens to double check that everything looks OK or to identify what could be causing an outage.
The drones are cost-effective and help improve safety, said Michael Dorr, senior drone operator.
"(Drones) allow us to safely get close to a highly energized piece of equipment without putting people up in a bucket truck," Dorr said.
They also help FPL spot damage that might not be seen with the naked eye through the use of the infrared camera, or to see issues from angles that might be hard to access without a drone, such as the top of a pole, Dorr said.
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"If lightning were to strike an insulator, you're not going to see that damage from below, but you'll see it from above," Dorr said.
FPL drones can fly in various windspeeds depending on their size. The drone Dorr demonstrated can fly in about 35 mph winds, which is a higher windspeed than most other FPL drones.
Year-round, FPL uses the drones to prepare for hurricane season, said Marshall Hastings, a spokesperson for FPL. Hurricane season is June 1 through Nov. 30.
"This helps us speed (power) restoration times, because we're able to proactively assess the energy grid everyday, but also following a storm," Hastings said. "We're able to see exactly what's wrong and get crews to the areas that need to be restored safer and faster."
The company has been using drones approximately six years, Hastings said, with the effort growing dramatically over time.
In 2021, there were more than 20,000 drone flights across Florida, and the company expects to exceed that number this year. More than 200 flights are conducted every day.
The company also placed a concrete pole on Grant Road. Concrete poles are typically stronger than wooden poles, with a life expectancy of about 40 years, and they can withstand winds of about 130 mph.
"Now's the time for our customers to prepare (for hurricane season)," Hastings said. "We want our customers to know that these are part of our preparations. We're continuing to make investments in the energy gird that make us smarter, stronger and more storm-resilient."
Finch Walker is a Breaking News Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at 321-290-4744 or fwalker@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @_finchwalker
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: FPL preparing for hurricane season with drones and concrete pole
