At its May 17, 2023 meeting, the City Commission approved a dual referral to the Public Safety and Neighborhood Quality of Life Committee (PSNQLC) and Land Use and Sustainability Committee (LUSC) to discuss Florida Power and Light's (FPL) Storm Secure Underground Program (the “Program”) and opportunities for identifying City of Miami Beach neighborhoods which may be eligible for undergrounding of power lines through the program, at no cost or expense to City residents, businesses, or property owners.

In 2018, FPL launched the Storm Secure Underground Program (SSUP) as approved, on a 3-year pilot basis, by the Florida Public Service Commissioner (FPSC). The pilot program was developed as part of a hardening initiative and allows for placement of certain overhead neighborhood power lines (laterals) underground to improve reliability during storm events and everyday weather. Per FPL, in 2021, the pilot transitioned to an ongoing program. Note that feeder power lines, telecommunication, and other utility cables are not eligible for SSUP.

The Program analyzes data from power line performance during previous named storms, outages on power lines due to vegetation issues, and performance of power lines during day-to-day operations to identify neighborhood power lines (laterals) that are most affected according to these metrics.

FPL has evaluated every neighborhood power line (laterals) in its service territory, including an assessment of Miami Beach lateral power lines. Based on FPL’s SSUP criteria and metrics, it is the understanding of the Administration that FPL has determined that there are no Miami Beach projects slated for the near-term.