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Leveraging Utility Partners for Innovation, Resiliency and Economic Success
ntroductionAs the utility that produces and sells more retail electricity than any other power provider in the U.S., it’s no surprise that Florida Power &
Light Company (FPL) seeks out
innovation in every facet of its
business. A subsidiary of NextEra Energy,
Inc., the world’s largest generator
of renewable power, FPL relies on a wide network of companies to provide the transformers, service lines and other power grid equipment it
needs to reliably and safely deliver
electricity to more than 10 million people
across Florida. In recent years, FPL
has also sought out strategic partnerships
with select suppliers. These partnerships are
developed with companies uniquely positioned to support FPL’s commitment to customers: low-cost, reliable and clean energy, and continuous innovation
that results in a smarter and
more resilient grid, which in turn
delivers economic development, jobs and tax revenue to the communities FPL serves.FPL’s approach to strategic partnerships and innovation delivers tangible benefits to customers:service reliability 99.98%Average
residential customer bills that are about 30% below the national average 30%Commercial and
industrial rates that are more than
45% below the national average45%Leveraging Utility
Partners for Innovation, Resiliency and Economic Success2
One company FPL has developed a strategic partnership with is Chicago-based S&C Electric
Company. FPL has a longstanding
relationship with S&C, a designer
and manufacturer of switching, protection
and control products for the electric power industry founded in 1911. The long-term utility-supplier relationship
deepened in 2015 when S&C opened a
manufacturing facility in West
Palm Beach, Florida. Located a short distance from FPL’s headquarters in Juno Beach, the
facility’s opening resulted in
the creation of 170 new jobs. It was
also part of a larger focus by FPL to invest in smart grid technology that helps the company continue to improve service reliability for its customers. Since 2006, FPL has invested more than $5 billion to make its grid stronger, smarter and more resilient – investments that have
helped increase FPL’s
reliability by more than 30% over the
past decade, even as major storms have increased in frequency
When it first opened, the $3
million S&C facility was focused on producing an automated lateral
switch, the TripSaver II
Cutout-Mounted Recloser, which is designed to replace
conventional manually operated fuses. The device addresses a challenge FPL
routinely faces year-round and
particularly during storm season: momentary power outages, which occur when palm fronds or other
types of vegetation touch or fall on power lines. The automated switches prevent
approximately 80% of
overhead faults from becoming sustained outages. When a fault occurs on the
line, the device “blinks,” or temporarily interrupts power to the affected
lateral lines. Once
cleared, the device restores power to the impacted line automatically. This helps keep the
lights on for more
customers by eliminating unnecessary momentary outages for
customers on the main feeder, and it also helps FPL avoid the time and expense
of sending crews out to
investigate and address an outage caused by a temporary fault.
Innovation
Through CollaborationEven before S&C’s Florida facility opened
in 2015, FPL and
S&C have held annual multi-day brainstorming sessions to
generate new product ideas. The gatherings bring together senior
executives and technical
staff from both companies for in-depth discussions about FPL’s
current and future product
needs and provide a venue for generating collaborative, innovative
solutions. One product that
emerged from these sessions is S&C’s VacuFuse Self-Resetting
Interrupter, also known as an
automated transformer switch. The product was the result of FPL’s
recognition that a large
number of outages on overhead distribution transformers could be avoided
with proactive fuse
replacements. The VacuFuse
Self-Resetting Interrupter addresses that vulnerability by
testing faults on overhead distribution transformers. FPL and S&C
worked to develop the
product, and FPL became the first utility in the world to deploy the
devices when it put 1,000 of them on 50-75 kVA overhead distribution
transformers in 2019. The
initial benefits of the deployment were significant enough that FPL
is installing an additional 50,000 devices across its system.Redefining Outage ManagementFPL has worked closely with
S&C to deploy other technologies strategically to slash outage
restoration time
and build a more resilient grid in a state prone to tropical weather and
hurricanes. FPL
has also installed more than 80,000 S&C TripSaver II Reclosers,
also known as automated lateral switches, as well as the IntelliTeam
SG Automatic
Restoration System, which allows for the quick assessment of local
grid conditions that are needed to restore or maintain power. For
example, on looped
circuits, the system is able to automatically connect customers impacted
by an outage to a new source of power in less than a minute. We’re committed to providing
America’s best
energy value to our
customers and doing
our part to spur investment
and job creation
statewide because
when Florida’s economy
grows, we all win,”
said Eric
Silagy, president and CEO
of FPL.“Working with partners like S&C Electric that have chosen to manufacture
an industry-leading
product right here in
Florida, near
our headquarters, enables
further innovation,
value and economic
prosperity for
our customers and
the state.”“Leveraging
Utility Partners for Innovation, Resiliency and Economic
Success4
FPL
has also installed over 6,200 of S&C’s IntelliRupter PulseCloser
Fault Interrupters. Along with TripSaver II Reclosers, these automatic
feeder switches
address the temporary faults that occur when vegetation falls on
a line. By testing lines with a small pulse of current
and restoring power when vegetation is no longer touching the line,
these automatic
feeder switches help eliminate the voltage sags and stresses that
often impact adjacent feeders when conventional
reclosers are used. FPL estimates that the installation of
S&C’s IntelliRupter
fault interrupters avoided more than 4
million customer interruptions in their first six years of
operation and that S&C’s TripSaver II Reclosers avoided
8,500 interruptions in the first four years. These
smart grid enhancements also helped FPL navigate
the aftermath of 2017’s powerful Hurricane
Irma. For example, 50 percent of FPL customers who
lost power during Hurricane Irma had it
restored within one day. Compared to Hurricane
Wilma in 2005, FPL shaved eight days off the time
needed for a complete restoration of service.
This fast action returned an estimated $8 billion
back into Florida’s economy.
The Benefits of ProximityWhile the
value of an increasingly smart and resilient grid is an obvious customer benefit for FPL, the partnership with S&C also bolsters the utility’s
supply chain. With its manufacturing
facility in Florida, S&C is able to
deliver products to FPL faster and with less shipping-related expenses. Proximity also fosters a level of cooperation, understanding and innovation that would otherwise prove far more difficult. In a traditional
utility-supplier relationship, there is
often a disconnect between the product
development process of a manufacturer and the specific needs of the utility. In the FPL and
S&C relationship, however, there are
ingrained processes to ensure S&C is
clear about FPL’s needs and that the utility
understands what’s required to develop a new product. For example, the
companies have an ongoing program through which
they swap engineers for periods of three
months. For FPL engineers, the stint at S&C’s manufacturing facility provides a
deeper understanding about the necessary
research and realistic timelines
required to develop and make new
products. S&C engineers in turn can glean insights about the types of products FPL needs to cost-effectively
improve reliability and deepen their understanding of what’s required to implement new products quickly and effectively. A number of other processes are in place to increase
mutual understanding between the
two companies. If an S&C product
fails in the field, FPL and S&C collaboratively
analyze the device to discover the root cause
of the problem. FPL field technicians also make regular visits to S&C’s manufacturing
facility to provide feedback about
how deployed products are working –
input that informs product improvements and refinements. During storm events, FPL also relies on the deep product knowledge S&C
engineers have about the company’s grid
equipment to quickly assess the cause of
outages. Leveraging Utility Partners for
Innovation, Resiliency and Economic Success7
THE MESSAGE HERE, IS THAT WHEN AVANGRID BUYS
PNM, WHAT WILL THEIR POLICIES BE???????????????????????
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND.
George
Richmond
-- George M. Richmond 152 Juniper Hill Road, NE Albuquerque, NM 87122-1913 C: 505-280-2105 E: geomrich1@comcast.net