VERO BEACH — Florida Power & Light today announced plans to construct an $8 million, state-of-the-art substation on part of the old postal annex property across from the Alma Lee Loy Bridge as part of a deal to acquire Vero Electric.
An FPL spokesperson told the City Council that the substation will be its newest design, and will greatly increase reliability for Vero Beach electric customers.
Construction of the new substation will take about a year, and will delay the dismantling of the big blue power plant diagonally across Indian River Boulevard until the fall of 2019 because the building will house switching equipment while the new substation is being built.
City Manager Jim O’Connor said the decommissioning of Big Blue will halt immediately.
In the meantime, the council was told that agreement with Orlando Utilities Commission on a $20 million penalty rather than a $50 million penalty should be in writing by the end of the week. Closing of FPL’s purchase of Vero Electric is still projected for October 2018.
