HB 797 & SB 796– Relating to Public Utility Storm Protection Plans

On Tuesday, March 19, HB 797 by Representative Randy Fine (R-Palm Bay) was heard in the House Energy and Utilities Subcommittee and was reported favorably with 13 yeas and 0 nays. AIF’s Senior Vice President of State and Federal Affairs, Brewster Bevis, stood in support of this legislation.

On Wednesday, March 20, SB 796 by Senator Joe Gruters (R-Sarasota) was heard in Senate Infrastructure and Security Committee and was reported favorably with 8 yeas and 0 nays. AIF stood in support of this legislation.

These bills aim to harden Florida’s utilities grid against tropical storm and hurricane damage with proposed under-grounding of electric infrastructure. These bills would require public utility companies (Florida Power and Light, Duke Energy Florida, Gulf Power Company, Tampa Electric Company, and the Florida Public Utilities Corporation) to submit a transmission and distribution storm protection plan to the Public Services Commission, with updates required at least every three years. Data collected after Hurricane Irma showed that underground lines suffered minimal outages during storms.

HB 797 will now move to the House Government Operations and Technology Appropriations Subcommittee.

SB 796 will now move to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

AIF supports actively seeking ways to harden our state’s infrastructure and more effectively prepare for hurricanes and tropical storms to ensure that power is quickly restored.