[Dave_n_Tenn]

FPL's customer service is above the national average. Listed as Nextera Energy... https://www.statista.com/statistics/...united-states/

The call center 'was' referred to as "The Insane Asylum". Back in the early 2000's FPL had contracted with a call center contractor based in El Paso, not the best outcome.

[wrat]

FPL stinks, Francis power out 13 days not even a direct hit, Jeanne power out 4 days not a direct hit, Wilma power out 14 days again not a direct hit, unincorporated palm beach county , during the the summer power frequently went out for short durations 5-15 min, all our lines were underground as well

[Travelassie]

Originally Posted by StarryKnight1

Linemen don’t work in customer service on the phone. Why do I have to say it outright?

I never said they did. Don't know where you're even getting that from my comments.

[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by wrat

FPL stinks, Francis power out 13 days not even a direct hit, Jeanne power out 4 days not a direct hit, Wilma power out 14 days again not a direct hit, unincorporated palm beach county , during the the summer power frequently went out for short durations 5-15 min, all our lines were underground as well

The lines go overhead eventually. A lot of the OH infrastructure remains outdated.

[sinatras]

Well, I got the following advice from someone in another Tampa neighborhood whose power also went out all the time:

keep complaining! Call every single time the power goes out. It took years of me calling and that paper trail before they sent an actual engineer out. 99% of the time they sent out random (new) contractors that don’t even know how to fix the more complicated issues (- per the engineer)

Meanwhile the Public Service Commission has already replied to my latest complaint, so that investigation will be happening shortly

Guess I will have to keep complaining to the PSC every single time I have an outage until it gets fixed............although with TECO incompetence my expectations are in the toilet

[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by sinatras

Well, I got the following advice from someone in another Tampa neighborhood whose power also went out all the time:

keep complaining! Call every single time the power goes out. It took years of me calling and that paper trail before they sent an actual engineer out. 99% of the time they sent out random (new) contractors that don’t even know how to fix the more complicated issues (- per the engineer)

The reason why it "took years" is because calling repeatedly did absolutely nothing. For minor, sporadic outages, They have a huge database of all of their equipment. For existing equipment, They send the “new contractors” (who are also engineers and designers by the way) to look at old poles once the time has come within said database, or to go in the field and confirm existing conditions if info is missing from their GIS systems. When they get back, any and everything gets reviewed by a senior engineer. No work is performed without this last step.
There is no way this engineer told you this. That would mean he is talking trash about the contractors his own firm (and possibly he himself) hire. He’d be without a job in a heartbeat.

Also, contracting firms (such as PIKE) very often have engineers/designers with far more field knowledge than TECO, DUKE, FPL engineers. And… the issues you reported here are most often associated with overloaded equipment. Engineers don’t check loads on power lines — linemen do. Engineers don’t have the equipment to do this. The same way engineers don't check loads or do arc flash studies in buildings -- electricians do. The engineer receives this information from line crews, and then does calculations in office behind a computer to determine correct conductor sizes, transformers, etc. There is nothing "complicated" about existing distribution systems. It's either equipment is overloaded (not determined in field by any engineer) or something is visibly broken, which any rookie engineer/designer can determine just by looking up, and is far from what anyone would call complicated. The redesign of an overloaded system is the complicated part. Sooooo yeah… Not at all how it works.

Again, no engineer working for any firm would tell you the sort of drivel you just posted. Unless… he himself is some random “new guy” who hasn’t yet learned proper business etiquette.

Curious: If you power constantly goes out as you say, are line crews that common of a sight in the streets of South Tampa?

[sinatras]

Originally Posted by Arcenal813

Again, no engineer working for any firm would tell you the sort of drivel you just posted. Unless… he himself is some random “new guy” who hasn’t yet learned proper business etiquette.

The alleged "drivel" was not told to me, but to a neighbor, if you actually read what I wrote.


As you have said many times in this forum, South Tampa is susceptible to frequent outages due to vegetation and old equipment. So what I need to do is keep complaining to the Public Service Commission. TECO is sending some kind of supervisor next week; my property manager will have to handle it.

[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by sinatras

The alleged "drivel" was not told to me, but to a neighbor, if you actually read what I wrote.


As you have said many times in this forum, South Tampa is susceptible to frequent outages due to vegetation and old equipment. So what I need to do is keep complaining to the Public Service Commission. TECO is sending some kind of supervisor next week; my property manager will have to handle it.

Yes. It's old junk. And as old as a lot of that stuff is, probably undersized. So, likely a mix of wind/trees causing different phases to touch, or overloads when everyone and every business in the area turn all of their appliances on at once. A lot of work needed out there.

[Wonko the Sane]

Originally Posted by sinatras

The alleged "drivel" was not told to me, but to a neighbor, if you actually read what I wrote.


As you have said many times in this forum, South Tampa is susceptible to frequent outages due to vegetation and old equipment. So what I need to do is keep complaining to the Public Service Commission. TECO is sending some kind of supervisor next week; my property manager will have to handle it.

Perhaps your property manager isn't up to the task?

Rust never sleeps.