[Lwvcnmtopics] SPECIAL BONUS ARTICE....NO EMAIL NEXT WEDS

[George Richmond]

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 at comcast.net



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