PORT CHARLOTTE — Florida Power & Light is making progress on its planned expansion of underground power lines ahead of hurricane season.
FPL workers demonstrated the process for installing underground lines Wednesday at a work site on Taylor Lane.
Mac Herron, the company’s senior project manager for the Storm Secure Underground Program, said the plan is to insulate power lines from falling debris and provide a “more reliable system” for delivering power in extreme weather.
“When (the primary) lines come up, the neighborhood lines will come up, too,” Herron said.
Cameras caught sight of a boring tube punching through the topsoil after snaking through several feet.
Workers then attached a new boring connection with several lines of tubes that will later house the wires connecting the Taylor Lane neighborhood to the main grid.
The underground connection program was started by FPL in 2018, according to company officials, after recognizing the value in placing lines out of danger from debris. The program remained in the pilot stage until 2022.
About 90% of new power lines since 2018 have been “undergrounded,” including 150 neighborhood lines across Charlotte County and North Port.
As of 2024, roughly half of all FPL power lines are now underground.
The company plans to complete an additional 100 neighborhood lines in Charlotte County by the end of the year, with at least another 50 lines in Sarasota County and other neighboring jurisdictions and 1,100 new underground lines across the state.
The project highlighted on Taylor Lane, according to FPL officials, represents 50 neighborhood lines encompassing more than 35 miles and serving roughly 2,400 customers.
Herron said that soil erosion would not be a risk factor.
He also highlighted efforts to harden remaining above-ground power lines with more secure poles, reinforced with metal or concrete, to reduce the likelihood of damage from severe weather or falling debris like trees.
Gary Ogle, an FPL customer living on Taylor Lane, spoke about the company’s outreach before, during and after Hurricane Ian as they prepared to expand their underground power line program.
“Every question I had, they answered,” he said.
He was a part of the media event.
Ogle moved to Port Charlotte just weeks ahead of Hurricane Charley in 2004, later moving to Taylor Lane in retirement.
Ian was even worse, he noted, because the area spent so long in the storm. The hurricane ripped up two trees in the neighborhood, torn away his fence, and left him and his neighbors without power for eight days.
He credited FPL workers for moving as fast as they did and for moving forward with the Storm Surge Underground Program.
“I’m looking forward to this,” he told reporters at the demonstration.
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