Ditchmen • NUCA of Florida March 2019 | Page 16

>> QUICK BITS NEW PILOT PROGRAM FOR UNDERGROUND LINES FLORIDA JOBLESS RATE UP SLIGHTLY IN FEBRUARY Florida Power & Light (FPL) is launching a pilot program to bury lines underground. The pilot program focuses on how FPL can cost-effectively bury portions of neighborhood power lines “to enhance reliability in good weather and bad,” said Bill Orlove, FPL spokesman. Orlove said there’s no additional cost to residents for the undergrounding. The pilot project is part of FPL’s total grid-strengthening program that it has proposed to the Florida Public Service Commission. Once FPL identifies a possible undergrounding project, it reaches out to the customers involved to discuss the project and easements required. Florida’s jobless rate ticked up in February for the second straight month, according to numbers released Friday by the state Department of Economic Opportunity. The 3.5 percent unemployment rate represents 357,000 Floridians out of jobs from a workforce of 10.34 million. The state’s unemployment rate was 3.4 percent in January 14 DITCHMEN • MARCH 2019