- Advanced automated technology, year-round grid strengthening
work accelerates rapid response during powerful storm
- Company has restored more than 330,000 customers since
Sunday morning, with approximately 5,000 customers remaining as of
3:15 p.m.
ST.
PETERSBURG, Fla., Aug. 7, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- Duke Energy rapidly restored power for more than
90% of its customers within 24 hours after Hurricane Debby made
landfall in Florida's Big Bend.
The company credits the rapid response to its year-round storm
preparations and grid hardening, innovative technology, decades of
lessons learned and key collaborations with state, local and
community response agencies.
A workforce of 3,000 lineworkers, vegetation workers, damage
assessors and support teams, worked around the clock alongside Duke
Energy storm response teams, power plant workers, grid operators
and dispatchers to restore power to more than 330,000 customers
since Sunday morning, when many communities along the west coast
started feeling the effects from Debby.
The company staged crews and resources throughout Florida – near areas that would likely be
affected – to allow for a quick and safe response to power outages.
In addition to its convoy of local crews, Duke Energy was able to
draw on other resources from its service territories in
Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio, as well as contractors from across the
state.
"Debby made landfall as a powerful Category 1 hurricane,
bringing with it strong winds, heavy rainfall and widespread
flooding across our service area, including in communities that
were devastated by Hurricane Idalia last year," said Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida state
president. "Our customers rely on us to be prepared and restore
power as quickly as possible during these critical times. It is a
privilege to serve our customers and we thank them for their trust,
patience and understanding."
Strengthening the grid to reduce storm impacts
In addition to investing in smart technologies and remote
restoration capabilities, the company trims vegetation near power
lines, installs stronger poles, upgrades wires and places
outage-prone lines underground to strengthen the energy grid,
reduce outages and restore power faster for customers.
The company's preliminary data indicates that its self-healing
technology, infrastructure and storm hardening work are making a
difference for Florida customers.
For perspective, Hurricane Hermine, a Category 1, made landfall in
St. Marks, near the Big Bend, on
Sept. 1, 2016. The powerful storm
left customers without power for approximately five days.
During Hurricane Debby, self-healing technology saved more than
four million minutes of total lost outage time and automatically
restored approximately 23,000 customer outages. More than 76% of
Duke Energy Florida customers are served by this technology.
"We understand some customers were without power for more than
24 hours ahead of a work week and we know that can be extremely
challenging," said Todd Fountain,
Duke Energy Florida storm director. "We are grateful for the quick
response, coordination and dedication of our first responders,
state and local emergency management officials and Duke Energy
crews and contractors."
Duke Energy crews will continue working until every customer is
restored.
Duke Energy Florida
Duke Energy Florida, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, owns 12,300
megawatts of energy capacity, supplying electricity to 2 million
residential, commercial and industrial customers across a
13,000-square-mile service area in Florida.
Duke Energy
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in
Charlotte, N.C., is one of
America's largest energy holding companies. The company's electric
utilities serve 8.4 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio
and Kentucky, and collectively own
54,800 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas utilities
serve 1.7 million customers in North
Carolina, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky.
Duke Energy is executing an ambitious clean energy transition,
keeping reliability, affordability and accessibility at the
forefront as the company works toward net-zero methane emissions
from its natural gas business by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions
from electricity generation by 2050. The company is investing in
major electric grid upgrades and cleaner generation, including
expanded energy storage, renewables, natural gas and nuclear.
More information is available at duke-energy.com and
the Duke Energy News Center. Follow Duke Energy
on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook,
and visit illumination for stories about the people and
innovations powering our energy transition.
Contact: Audrey Stasko
Media line: 800.559.3853
Twitter:
@DE_AudreyS
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/duke-energy-florida-thanks-customers-for-their-patience-as-company-wraps-up-rapid-restoration-for-nearly-all-customers-impacted-by-hurricane-debby-302217197.html
SOURCE Duke Energy