Miami power plant comes crashing down in planned implosion



(CNN) -- Suburban Miami's Cutler Power Plant was imploded in spectacular fashion Saturday.

The planned demolition brought down two power-generating units and smokestacks the company said "are no longer cost-effective or necessary to provide the community's energy needs."

Florida Power and Light sent a letter to more than 900 residential and business customers within a half-mile radius of the plant advising them of Saturday's scheduled implosion.

In it, the company said they are investing in a "new fleet of power plants, which run on American-produced, low cost natural gas."

Those new plants, the company said, have helped keep operating costs down and have helped keep typical residential bills low.

Cutler Power plant, built in 1949, was a combined cycle plant, burning both natural gas and oil, according to Bill Orlove, spokesperson for Florida Power and Light.

At the height of its production, it was the "largest plant of its kind in the state of Florida," powering 350,000 customers, Orlove said.

This is the company's second demolition in two months.

In July, the 1960s-era Port Everglades Power Plant in Hollywood, Florida, was torn down.

All are a part of the company's ongoing efforts to "replacing older, less efficient power plants with new, more efficient facilities," a release on the company's website said.