As the storm season approaches, Florida Utilities are outlining long term plans for protecting customers from massive power outages. Four major utilities have filed plans that call for billions of dollars of projects over the next decade to strengthen electric systems against hurricanes. A key component to each plan is a significant amount of underground projects. 

According to a story by CBS Miami , Florida Power & Light, Duke Energy Florida, Tampa Electric Co. and Gulf Power filed the plans Friday at the state Public Service Commission. The filings were an initial step as regulators review the plans and, ultimately, decide how costs will be passed along to utility customers.

The story reports some of the planned spending. For example, FPL’s newly filed plan, calls for spending an estimated $510 million a year on underground power-line projects. Meanwhile, Tampa Electric wants to spend more than $100 million in most years, with a total of $976.8 million over the decade, according to its filing. Duke said it expects to spend about $2.2 billion over 10 years on underground and overhead “lateral” power lines, which generally carry electricity into neighborhoods.

According to a story published last month at Greentechmedia.com, the case for new multistate transmission lines has never been more clear. Though funding for U.S. transmission projects seeking to carry wind and solar power from generation to where it’s needed the most has been slow in the last decade, that’s poised to change.

A growing number of states and utilities have set 100-percent-clean-energy goals. At the same time, most of that clean energy will not be generated close to home. So the growing gap between the transmission network’s capacity and the need to link wind farms, solar farms, and hydropower resources will generate the need for transmission projects if renewable goals are going to be met. 

A recent news story in Forbes discussed how utilities in the midst of digital transformation are paving the way for businesses of all kinds facing challenges in the areas of regulatory compliance, network optimization, information sharing, supply chain, and asset management. One of the solutions utilities have adopted is the use of geographic information systems (GIS) and real-time data streams. The complete article at Forbes.com covers some details and trends worth a look. 

A panel of chief financial officers (CFOs) from four large power companies spoke to the future of the industry at the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) Financial Conference, Nov. 10-12. The Daily Energy Insider reported that panelists discussed resiliency, affordability, cybersecurity, regulations, and renewables. They believe these topics will impact energy companies an the industry as a whole in the next decade. Read the full story for details and quotes from participants.

A recent news story cited how proposed laws in Florida could help promote the expansion of underground power lines. The proposal received support from lawmakers during the spring legislative session, however, the Florida Public Service Commission is responsible for carrying out details of a new “storm protection” law which would effectively reduce power outages when hurricanes hit.

A key part of the law changes the financing process for underground power-line projects, which could lead to more projects. See the complete story here.