STATEMENT BY:
Amy Zubaly, Executive Director, Florida Municipal Electric Association
Regarding Preparations for Hurricane Ian
“Since this past weekend, the Florida Municipal Electric Association has been in contact with public power communities across Florida and the country lining up mutual aid crews prepared to assist areas throughout the state affected by Hurricane Ian.
Currently, we have more than 500 mutual aid line resources from 18 states committed to assisting with restoration efforts and we are continuing to work on securing additional resources. We have personnel who are arriving in advance of the storm and are pre-staging so they can enter impacted areas post-storm once conditions are safe while the remainder will arrive immediately following the storm.
The Florida Municipal Electric Association is able to call on this network of strong support through established mutual aid agreements. Through the American Public Power Association, Florida’s public power utilities can request the assistance of other public power communities across the country during emergencies. Mutual aid partners provide power restoration crew members, supplies and equipment. Florida’s public power communities have also forged mutual aid arrangements with Florida’s investor-owned utilities.”
The Florida Municipal Electric Association (FMEA) represents the unified interests of 33 public power communities across the state, which provide electricity to more than 3 million of Florida’s residential and business consumers.
