President Joe Biden will do it trip on sunday to Florida areas affected by successive hurricanes, and announced federal funding for projects to strengthen the electrical grid, according to the White House.
Biden will visit St. Petersburg, one of Florida’s hardest-hit cities in the wake of Hurricane Milton, and unveil $612 million for six Department of Energy projects in the Southeast.
A Florida National Guard truck goes out to help residents trapped in their homes after Hurricane Milton flooded the Anclote River on October 12, 2024 in New Port Richey, Florida.
Mike Carlson/AP
Two of the projects are focused on Florida and provide $94 million in federal funds, according to the White House.
Gainesville Regional Utilities will use the funding to help mitigate the effects of increasingly extreme weather in north central Florida, “through storm hardening, as well as faster restoration, deploying self-healing devices and tools that will allow for more efficient and accurate dispatch of field crews during outages,” it said. the White House said in a statement.
Switched Source, a private utility technology developer, will work with Florida Power and Light to deploy Phase-EQ, which “optimizes power flow in distribution circuits, unlocking more than 200 MW of system power and improving reliability in circuits serving communities.” . may suffer extended interruptions,” according to the White House.
A drone view shows destroyed beach houses after Hurricane Milton made landfall on Manasota Key, Florida on October 11, 2024.
Ricardo Arduengo/Reuters
“These investments are part of the president’s commitment to making long-term investments that protect, enhance and improve our nation’s electric grid, especially in the face of extreme weather events,” the White House said in a statement.
Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida as a Category 3 storm on Wednesday evening. At least 16 people died in the storm and more than a million remain without power.
Biden has spoken with numerous state and local officials, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who he said was “very cooperative.” Asked if he would meet with DeSantis on Sunday, Biden said yes as long as the governor was available.
