Cloud Lake hears FPL adviser on undergrounding as county resilience assessment is readied

Cloud Lake — At its Feb. 13 meeting the Cloud Lake Town Council heard a presentation from a Florida Power & Light customer advisor and received details about a county-coordinated Resilient Florida vulnerability-assessment application.

FPL Customer Advisor Rudy Toledo met earlier with the mayor and clerk and summarized account history for 2023–24 and a projected 6% increase for 2025; the presentation listed a total annual projection of $2,215. Toledo said FPL plans to request a rate increase from the Florida Public Service Commission in mid‑2025.

Council members outlined town priorities for utility upgrades, including converting utilities to underground lines, transitioning septic systems to sewer, and shortening the town’s streetlight outage repair timeframe (the council cited a current repair timeframe of 40 days). On the likelihood of undergrounding, Toledo said lateral (secondary) lines may be placed underground in the future but he doubted that higher-capacity feeder lines mounted on concrete poles would be moved underground.

Separately, the council was told that Palm Beach County will submit a Resilient Florida grant application that will fund vulnerability assessments for a group of smaller municipalities (including Cloud Lake). A steering committee will be formed and the county has contracted Tetra Tech to perform assessments; the consultant is expected to make a presentation to Cloud Lake at the March or April council meeting. Town staff said the grant process requires public participation, including two outreach events and two presentations before participating councils.

No formal votes were taken on utility or grant items at the Feb. 13 meeting; council members directed staff to pursue follow-up meetings and to host the consultant when scheduled.