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“System hardening can help keep the lights on during a storm, but experts warn this addresses only the symptoms of a fragile grid.

The Florida Public Service Commission on Monday approved agreements authorizing storm protection plans (SPP) for four investor-owned utilities, clearing the way for billions of dollars in system hardening investments including the continued undergrounding of power lines and other equipment.

While moving distribution assets underground can help make them more resilient to storms and other disasters , experts say it must be done carefully–with an eye towards making equitable investments that have broader grid impacts.

The protection strategies are the result of legislation signed last year by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, which required utilities to develop 10-year plans that will be updated regularly. The law allowed for a cost-recovery rider, outside of a utility’s base rates, to pay for undergrounding power lines and other system improvements.

Regulators determined the agreements are in the public interest ‘because the programs continue to strengthen Florida’s grid and improve recovery times from severe weather events,’ PSC Chairman Gary Clark said in a statement.

The agreements continue some hardening work that utilities have been doing for more than a decade, since Florida’s electric grid was devastated during the 2004-2005 storm season. They also authorize some new work, while ensuring utility plans to underground power lines are completed in a methodical and data-driven way.

While moving power lines underground will help with system resilience, some experts warn that the expensive process addresses only the symptoms of a fragile system — and other types of modernization and distributed investments could provide system value even when the state is not facing hurricanes or other potential disasters.

“The costs of such efforts may be justified in some cases, but in general, undergrounding is an example of a resilience investment that only address the symptoms, not the root cause, of a fragile grid,” Mark Dyson, principal at Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), said in an email.

The agreements authorize SPPs for NextEra Energy subsidiaries Florida Power and Light (FPL) and Gulf Power, Duke Energy Florida, and Tampa Electric Company (TECO). Earlier this year, regulators granted Florida Public Utilities Company a one-year extension to complete its SPP, following system damage from Hurricane Michael in 2018.

Each agreement was reached with Florida’s Office of Public Counsel (OPC), and in some cases specific customers…

The storm protection plan for FPL, the state’s largest electric provider, “is a continuation of the existing comprehensive hardening programs that the company has undertaken for nearly 15 years,” utility spokesman Bill Orlove said in an email. “These programs have benefited customers by successfully reducing restoration costs and outage times during major storms, as well as improving day-to-day service reliability…”

TECO’s plan calls for spending more than $100 million in most years to underground distribution laterals, totaling about $977 million from 2020 through 2029…”

— Robert Walton, Utilitydive.com

Read entire article including details on plans