How Florida Power & Light Advances Substation Situational Awareness with UbiHub AI+

FPL uses UbiHub AI+ on existing substation infrastructure to combine edge AI, thermal monitoring, camera analytics, and LTE connectivity — building continuous visibility into equipment conditions, site activity, and operational risks.

Florida Power & Light (FPL) uses Ubicquia's UbiHub AI+ platform to build continuous situational awareness across substations — replacing episodic inspections and disconnected point systems with real-time visibility into equipment conditions, site activity, and emerging operational risks. The deployment uses existing substation lighting infrastructure as the platform, avoiding new poles, trenching, or dedicated communications networks.

Substations sit at the heart of utility operations, yet many operate with limited on-site personnel. FPL needed a scalable approach to improve awareness of what's happening across large geographic areas without relying solely on traditional inspections and periodic site visits. UbiHub AI+ combines edge-processed video, thermal awareness, license plate recognition, and additional sensor inputs into a unified platform — accessed through Ubicquia's UbiVu cloud dashboard.

The challenge: critical infrastructure with limited visibility

Utility operators balance reliability, security, operational efficiency, and infrastructure protection while managing assets spread across large service territories. FPL recognized the growing need for greater visibility into substation environments — not just at the perimeter, but at the equipment, site activity, and emerging-risk level. Traditional monitoring approaches — individual point systems, periodic site visits, isolated alerts — made it difficult to maintain a complete picture of what was happening across an entire facility.

The solution: distributed edge intelligence on existing infrastructure

Ubicquia deployed UbiHub AI+ as a distributed edge-intelligence architecture. Mounted on existing substation lighting infrastructure, UbiHub AI+ supports cameras, thermal monitoring, license plate recognition, and additional sensors while processing events locally at the edge. The platform communicates over independent LTE connectivity — not shared with substation control networks — and delivers actionable insights through the UbiVu cloud dashboard.

Instead of isolated alerts from disconnected point systems, FPL operators gain a broader understanding of activity, equipment conditions, and emerging risks across the facility. The platform architecture scales to future monitoring and security initiatives without additional infrastructure investment.

What FPL gained from continuous substation visibility

Continuous situational awarenessEdge-processed video, thermal awareness, and license plate recognition combine into a real-time picture of what's happening across substation environments — not just alerts, but context.

Visibility into equipment conditionsThermal monitoring on transformer and switchgear equipment provides early warning of degradation and thermal anomalies weeks before failures escalate to service impact.

Reduced reliance on manual monitoringEdge AI processing at the substation reduces dependence on periodic site visits and disconnected alarm systems, freeing personnel for higher-value response and analysis.

Scalable platform for future initiativesThe LTE-connected, sensor-flexible architecture supports future monitoring and security initiatives without requiring new infrastructure — plug in additional sensors as needs evolve.

Frequently asked questions

What is UbiHub AI+?

What is substation situational awareness?

What is edge AI and why does it matter for substations?

Why deploy over LTE instead of substation control networks?

What role does thermal monitoring play in substation operations?

Download the substation edge AI case study

How Florida Power & Light modernizes substation infrastructure with UbiHub AI+ — edge AI, thermal monitoring, cameras, and LTE on existing lighting for grid-modernization-scale visibility.

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