Daytona Beach, Fla. – Today, Florida Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and State Fire Marshal Jimmy Patronis addressed the 80^th Florida Professional Firefighters (FPF) Annual Conference, where the CFO addressed issues related to electric vehicle (EV) fires and Florida’s insurance market. Portions of the CFO’s remarks are available HERE and a transcript is below.

PORTIONS OF TRANSCRIPT BELOW

On Protecting Firefighters from EVs

You didn’t see it with Hurricane Michael, you didn’t see it with Hurricane Irma because there wasn’t as many of these things on the road.

Everything’s powered by lithium-ion batteries now. E-bikes, scooters, Birds, you name it… all these different devices now that are powered by lithium-ion batteries, they aren’t going away, they’re going to become more and more a part of the day-to-day routine.

What we saw after Hurricane Ian… was a saltwater flood event. You had these things catching on fire all over the place.

So, I think we had 17 EVs that caught fire… We moved the needle; we got somebody’s attention. We made them own the fact that their car, their product, has a risk associated with it.

What we did this year as we said, fine we’re going to take this step further. We’re going to start what’s called rulemaking.

[For] Rulemaking… we’re going to have meetings and we’re going to bring all these stakeholders together and we’re going to make policies on the best way to deal with these things, and Florida’s going to lead.

We’re doing what we always do best. We set the standard in the battle rhythm for a lot of these new technologies, new ideas, and we’re going to try especially with EVs moving forward.

On Insurance

The My Safe Florida Home program is a way you can collect up to $10,000 to replace windows and doors in your house with hardened windows and doors.

If the house is less risk for storm damage, that means its less likely you’re going to file a claim. If it’s less likely you’re going to file a claim, then there’s less of a risk for the carrier so the premium drops.

The trend is going the right way, we are starting to see rates drop. They’re not dropping as fast as they went up, but they’re going the right direction and that’s not happening in Texas. That’s not happening in Louisiana. That’s not happening in California. 

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About CFO Jimmy Patronis 
Chief Financial Officer and State Fire Marshal Jimmy Patronis is a statewide elected official and a member of Florida’s Cabinet who oversees the Department of Financial Services. CFO Patronis works each day to fight insurance fraud, support Florida’s firefighters, and ensure the state’s finances are stable to support economic growth in the state. Follow the activities of the Department on Facebook (FLDFS) and X (@FLDFS).