chill633 t1_irceti1 wrote on October 6, 2022 at 11:35 PM

Reply to comment by LuckyPlaze in A Florida community built to weather hurricanes endure by PhilipGreenbriar

That's not quite an accurate way to put this. While you are right that the underground power lines certainly help things and eliminate poles that are susceptible to being blown over, for Babcock Ranch the solar is not a nice backup, it is the primary electric source. The adjacent 870 acres solar power facility that is run by Florida Power and Light, is the primary power for the town. It is essentially a micro grid, connected to the rest of Florida's grid. They get their juice from solar, and the excess goes to the greater grid. It isn't a backup. Some people have opted to put their own solar panels on their house, but that's not really part of the equation.

LuckyPlaze t1_ircqlos wrote on October 7, 2022 at 1:17 AM

But that’s not the primary reason why people had power after the hurricane. The distribution systems are usually intact post storm events, and they are built to do so with steel and metal poles.

It’s the overhead delivery to houses that gets the brunt of storm impacts. Our crews along with crews across the country are down there helping right now. That’s what has to be rebuilt to get power to these communities and that’s why this community never lost it.

chill633 t1_irctgbx wrote on October 7, 2022 at 1:41 AM

I was mostly quibbling with your description of the solar power as merely a nice backup, not disputing that distribution lines are very sturdy in storms and the bulk of electrical issues are with local delivery by pole.

I've been researching Babcock Ranch since the development was proposed, and what I'm saying is they included local power generation in their development plan -- the adjacent solar field. That local generation, combined with underground delivery, elevated home lots and roads designed to act as flood drainage, plus being 30 miles inland, played a part in their being one of the only areas to maintain power when 2.3 million other households around them lost it.