Florida Power and Light Adjusts

POPULATION. GROWTH AND REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA CONTINUES TO SURGE LEE COUNTY'S POPULATION IS EXPECTED TO GROW BY MORE THAN 30% OVER THE NEXT 25 YEARS FROM NEARLY 800,000 RESIDENTS TO MORE THAN 1.1 MILLION. THAT IS ACCORDING TO THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA'S BUREAU OF ECONOMIC AND BUSINESS RESEARCH TO KEEP UP WITH THE GROWTH. FLORIDA POWER AND LIGHT SAYS THEY ARE WORKING TO MAKE SURE THEY CAN HANDLE THE EXPECTED DEMAND FOR ELECTRIC POWER. WGCUS BRYANT MONTEILH REPORTS. >> YOU DON'T HAVE TO DRIVE FAR TO SEE THE SIGNS OF POPULATION GROWTH. DEVELOPMENT IS ABUNDANT IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. NEW APARTMENT BUILDINGS, HOMES, COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS. ALONG WITH THE HUGE EXPANSION PROJECT AT SOUTHWEST FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. THE SECOND PHASE OF THAT ENTERPRISE WILL COST 1.1 BILLION DOLLARS WITH THE DEVELOPMENT COMES THE INCREASED DEMAND FOR RESOURCES SUCH AS ENERGY AND POWER. FLORIDA POWER AND LIGHT HAS ABOUT 6 MILLION ACCOUNTS SERVING MORE THAN 12 MILLION PEOPLE IN 43 OF FLORIDA'S 67 COUNTIES HAVE PL SAYS THAT THEY'RE READY FOR THE GROWING DEMANDS THAT COMES WITH A BOOM IN POPULATION. WELL, FLORIDA IS GROWING FAST. IT'S ALSO BEEN GROWING FOR YEARS AND YEARS IN SUPPORT OF POWER. AND LIGHT COMPANY IS VERY PRACTICED AND CAPABLE. >> WHEN IT COMES TO ACCOMMODATING GROWTH IN FLORIDA AND DEPLOYING THE RIGHT RESOURCES AT THE RIGHT TIME TO RELIABLY SERVE ALL CUSTOMERS. CURRENTLY. THERE ARE ROUGHLY 713,000 CUSTOMER ACCOUNTS IN THE FORT MYERS, NAPLES AREA. >> THE GROWTH MEANS A SIGNIFICANT NEW GENERATING CAPACITY AND DISTRIBUTION INFRASTRUCTURE WHICH WILL MEET DEMAND IN FLORIDA. ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING STATES IN THE U.S. TO COORDINATED WE'RE WORKING DIRECTLY WITH LOCAL GOVERNMENTS WITH PLANNING AGENCIES. >> AND BUILDERS. AND WE'RE ALSO USING LONG-RANGE FORECASTING 2 TO UNDERSTAND WHERE DEMAND IS HEADED. AND ALL OF THIS ENSURES THAT THAT WE'RE STAYING AHEAD OF GROWTH AND NEVER CHASEN. >> TO PROVIDE RELIABLE POWER SUPPLY. USES NATURAL GAS. A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF NEW CLEAR AND IS INCREASING THEIR USE OF SOLAR POWER. SOUTHWEST FLORIDA IS IDEAL FOR SOLAR AND LARGE-SCALE SOLAR FARMS ARE EXPANDING ACROSS THE STATE WHICH REDUCES RELIANCE ON FOSSIL FUELS. WE RUN THE LARGEST NATURAL GAS, WINNING THE NATION. WE OPERATE. >> SAFE, RELIABLE NUCLEAR POWER. AND INCREASINGLY, WE'RE ADDING MORE AND MORE SOLAR AND BATTERY STORAGE TECHNOLOGY. >> AND THAT'S BENEFITED OUR CUSTOMERS BECAUSE IT CONTINUES TO DRIVE FUEL COST OF THE CUSTOMER BILL. AND IT'S ALSO VERY, VERY QUICK TO DEPLOY. SO WHEN YOU NEED TO ADD ELECTRONS ONTO THE GRID QUICKLY. >> SO REALLY, THAT'S THE BILL IN THE MIDST OF ALL THE DEVELOPMENT EXPANSION AND DEMAND FOR POWER. WHAT CUSTOMERS WANT MOST IS RELIABILITY, ESPECIALLY WHEN STORMS IN OUR AREA. THE LIABILITY IS 67% BETTER THAN THE NATIONAL AVERAGE. >> THAT'S DESPITE THE SEVERE WEATHER THAT WE WE SEE HERE IN FLORIDA THAT A LOT OF PLACES DO NOT SEE. AND THAT'S BECAUSE OF SMART PLANNING AND CONTINUING TO TO MAKE SMART LONG-TERM INVESTMENTS TO RELIABLY SERVE EVERYBODY. >> HAS INCREASED THEIR USE OF STRONGER POLLS. FLOOD RESISTANT SUBSTATIONS UNDERGROUND POWER LINES AND SMART GRID TECHNOLOGY TO HELP KEEP THE LIGHTS ON. ESPECIALLY WHEN THE STORMS HIT FOR WGCU NEWS IM BRYANT MONTEILH