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Tuesday is new South Dade deadline for power
The utility had expected to restore power throughout Miami-Dade County by Sunday
Florida Power & Light had promised to restore power by Sunday night to Miami-Dade County but now expects restoration in South Dade to take two days longer.
FPL expects to fix damage by Hurricane Irma and restore power by Tuesday night for customers south of Miller Drive – in Coral Gables, Cutler Bay, Florida City, Homestead, Pinecrest, Palmetto Bay and South Miami.
FPL spokesman Richard Beltran told the Miami Herald on Friday that “harder hit areas in South Dade will be up by Tuesday.”
Beltran also told the Herald that FPL plans to have restored power to 90 percent of Miami-Dade by Sunday and 95 percent by Monday.
He said FPL extended its restoration schedule due to substantial damage to electrical transmission infrastructure from debris and downed trees.
Some cities with widespread power outages are threatening to punish FPL for slow progress in restoring power since Hurricane Irma made landfall Sunday in the Florida Keys as a Category 4 storm.
In a public notice to citizens, Pinecrest Mayor Joseph Corradino said city attorneys were considering legal action against FPL. The mayor said 80 percent of Pinecrest had no power immediately after Hurricane Irma battered South Florida, and by Thursday evening, 75 percent of the city was still powerless.
City commissioners in Coral Gables held an emergency meeting Thursday and decided, in a unanimous vote, to explore whether to sue FPL or to file a complaint with the state agency that regulates FPL, the Florida Public Service Commission. [Miami Herald] – Mike Seemuth