Nearly a year after hurricanes Helene and Milton struck Florida, Duke Energy Florida continues to invest in strengthening its energy infrastructure. The storms, which made landfall within weeks of each other, affected almost 2 million customers and required the mobilization of nearly 25,000 workers for power restoration. Most outages were resolved within 72 hours.
Duke Energy Florida has implemented several initiatives to improve reliability and reduce outage times. These include the deployment of self-healing technology that can automatically detect outages and reroute power, often restoring service in less than a minute. Over the past five years, about 60% of wooden transmission poles have been replaced with concrete or steel alternatives, with plans to complete this project by 2028. Approximately half of the distribution system has been moved underground to protect against severe weather, and more facilities are being converted in areas prone to outages.
Additional measures include hardening projects at 38 substations—with over 30 more underway—and maintenance trimming along more than 4,000 miles of distribution lines. Nearly 660 miles of transmission line vegetation management is planned for this year. The company also runs an “Assess and Address” program aimed at identifying and upgrading equipment before storms occur.
According to Duke Energy Florida president Melissa Seixas: “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, noted improvements in Pinellas County: “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 serves approximately 2 million customers across a service area spanning 13,000 square miles and owns about 12,300 megawatts of energy capacity.
The parent company, Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), is based in Charlotte, North Carolina. It serves electric utilities customers across six states and owns nearly 54,800 megawatts of capacity nationwide. Its natural gas utilities serve customers in five states as well.
More information about Duke Energy’s ongoing investments can be found on their official website at duke-energy.com and through their news center.
