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FPL Restores Power to More Than 2.6 Million Customers, Restoration Force Focuses on the 594,000 Customers Remaining Out of Power Post-Wilma

Posted on: Wednesday, 2 November 2005, 18:01 CST

Aggressive efforts are continuing to restore power to the 19 percent of Florida Power & Light Company customers remaining without power since Hurricane Wilma hit Florida. Electric service has been restored to more than 2.6 million customers of the 3.2 million impacted by the major storm.

FPL asks customers on the west coast (Lee, Hendry and Collier counties) and treasure coast (St. Lucie and Martin counties) to call FPL at 1-800-4OUTAGE (1-800-468-8243) if they do not have power. While some crews will remain in these counties until all customers have power restored, the company's restoration force of more than 18,200 personnel from 33 states and Canada will continue to converge on the remaining damaged areas in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties. Crews are operating out of FPL service center locations as well as 20 staging sites.

In the tri-county area, crews will redouble their efforts to restore power neighborhood by neighborhood. Progress going forward will be slower since the repairs to neighborhood lines serve fewer customers than main lines. Customers are encouraged to give crews the right of way as they move about the area to restore power, to refrain from stopping crews to ask questions about the restoration process and to keep storm debris away from the base of power poles and from ground-level transformers.

In addition, FPL urges its customers to stay safe during and after Hurricane Wilma.

-- Do not walk in standing water as you might not see a downed

power line that could still be energized and dangerous. Be

careful venturing out, especially at night, as fallen trees

and debris could cover energized lines.

-- Stay away from downed power lines and consider every downed

line as energized. If you see an electrical line down and you

think it presents a clear and imminent danger to you or

others, call 911 or FPL at 1-800-4OUTAGE.

-- If you're considering using a portable generator, check the

manufacturer's recommendations and follow them for proper use.

Plug appliances directly into the generator and not into the

main electrical panel. Remember, only a licensed electrician

should connect a generator to a main electric panel.

-- Never operate a generator inside your home or even in the

garage. Keep generators well away from open windows so exhaust

does not enter your home or a neighbor's home.

-- For additional safety tips, visit www.FPL.com.

Hurricane Wilma - Customer Counts November 2, 2005 - 3:30 p.m. Affected Counties Out Restored Affected ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Brevard - 79,500 79,500 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Broward 259,700 603,100 862,800 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Charlotte - 8,500 8,500 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Collier 5,300 164,300 169,600 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DeSoto - 4,900 4,900 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Flagler - 200 200 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Glades - 3,400 3,400 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Hendry - 8,500 8,500 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Highlands - 400 400 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Indian River - 41,600 41,600 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Lee - 194,900 194,900 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Manatee - 14,600 14,600 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Martin 5,400 79,200 84,600 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Miami-Dade 199,000 757,500 956,500 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Okeechobee - 15,900 15,900 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Palm Beach 124,500 539,000 663,500 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Putnam - 100 100 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Sarasota - 18,600 18,600 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Seminole - 1,100 1,100 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- St. Lucie 600 102,300 102,900 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Volusia - 9,300 9,300 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- TOTAL 594,500 2,646,900 3,241,400 ----------------------------------------------------------------------

Florida Power & Light Company is the principal subsidiary of FPL Group, Inc. (NYSE: FPL), nationally known as a high quality, efficient and customer-driven organization focused on energy-related products and services. With annual revenues of more than $10 billion and a growing presence in 26 states, FPL Group is widely recognized as one of the country's premier power companies. Florida Power & Light Company serves 4.3 million customer accounts in Florida. FPL Energy, LLC, FPL Group's wholesale electricity generating subsidiary, is a leader in producing electricity from clean and renewable fuels. Additional information is available on the Internet at www.FPL.com, www.FPLGroup.com and www.FPLEnergy.com.

Note to Editors: High-resolution logos and executive head shots are available for download at http://www.fpl.com/news/contents/logos.shtml.

Source: Business Wire

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