FPL bringing in 4,000 workers to increase St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant capacity

HUTCHINSON ISLAND —  Florida Power & Light Co. is bringing in about 4,000 workers to the area as it increases the generation capacity at Unit 2 of the St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant on Hutchinson Island in St. Lucie County.

The economic impact is expected to be felt throughout the Treasure Coast, according to chamber of commerce officials.

An FPL official urged the Economic Development Council of St. Lucie County and local businesses across the Treasure Coast to take advantage of the opportunity to let the influx of workers know about the goods and services they can offer.

"There's a lot of things that can be done to help these people out," said Jack Hoffman,FPL's licensing manager for the extended power upgrade project.

Indian River County Chamber of Commerce President Penny Chandler said she will be in contact with her counterparts in the other counties to find out about developing some type of package letting workers know about what the area has to offer.

"We certainly want to do what we can to bring some of them to Indian River County," Chandler said.
Tom Vokoun, chairman of the Stuart/Martin County Chamber of Commerce board, said the influx helps retailers, hotels, restaurants and other companies.

"It helps the whole community keep going and keep growing," Vokoun said.

Not all 4,000 of the workers are expected to be there at the same time. Instead varying numbers of workers will be needed during different phases of the project.

Hoffman said the unit will be shut down while work is done to increase its generating capacity by 12 percent. Unit 2 will be shut down between August through November during the upgrade, but Hoffman said workers already are starting to come in as the project gears up.

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