Nearly a year after hurricanes Helene and Milton struck Florida, Duke Energy Florida continues to focus on strengthening its energy infrastructure. The storms, which made landfall within weeks of each other, affected almost 2 million customers and required the mobilization of about 25,000 workers for power restoration. Most outages were resolved within 72 hours.
Duke Energy Florida has been working throughout the year to improve grid reliability and speed up restoration times in response to recent storm impacts. Investments include self-healing technology that can detect outages and reroute power automatically, with many issues resolved in less than a minute. The company has also replaced about 60% of its wooden transmission poles with concrete or steel since 2020, aiming for full replacement by 2028. Half of the distribution system is now underground to help shield against extreme weather.
Additional efforts involve hardening projects at substations—38 completed and over 30 underway—and ongoing vegetation maintenance along thousands of miles of distribution lines. An “Assess and Address” program is used to proactively upgrade equipment before storms occur.
Melissa Seixas, president of Duke Energy Florida, said: “Duke Energy Florida stands ready to respond to any storm activity that impacts our state. We prepare for this time all year and every investment we make helps to keep our customers’ lights on and speed restoration when an outage does occur.”
Antonio Price, vice president of zone operations at Duke Energy Florida, added: “Particularly in Pinellas County, we are seeing significant improvements in our restoration times because of our grid hardening efforts over the last years. In Pinellas County, 90% of our residents are served by self-healing technology, and that allows us to quickly restore outages without dispatching personnel. It also allows us to narrow down where the outages are so we can restore even more quickly.”
Duke Energy Florida supplies electricity across a service area covering 13,000 square miles in the state.
The parent company, Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), serves millions across several states and is investing in grid upgrades as well as cleaner generation sources such as renewables and energy storage.
More information about Duke Energy’s initiatives can be found at duke-energy.com and through its social media channels.
