Duke Energy Florida’s crews restored power for over 600,000 customers, while nearly 150,000 continued to experience outages as a result of Hurricane Helene.
Duke Energy said the company’s workforce is more than 8,000 strong, with many working through the night to get everyone’s power back on.
The company established estimated times of restoration for the company’s Big Bend and North Florida counties for 11:59pm Sunday, September 29th. Approximately 95% of these customers are expected to be restored, though many will be restored sooner.
With these latest estimated times, the majority of customers in Duke Energy Florida’s territory will be restored.
However, coastal areas of Pinellas County experienced significant damage from storm surge and strong wind. Many of the barrier islands and areas along Gulf Boulevard will require a rebuild and will take longer to energize. Additionally, due to the damage to homes and businesses, some structures will not be able to receive power.
“We are closely collaborating with our communities in areas devastated by this historic storm,” said Todd Fountain, Duke Energy Florida storm director. “We understand that we provide an essential service, and it can be frustrating to be without power. We appreciated your patience and support during this challenging time.”
Occasionally, energy companies must adjust those times as additional damage or problems with access are uncovered. Sometimes, customers may see a neighbor’s lights come back on while they are still without power. A few explanations include: parts of the neighborhood may be served by different circuits, and not all circuits come back at the same time; and, there may also be a problem with their individual service line or their meter.
If the meter box is pulled away from a customer’s house or mobile home service pole and power is not being received, the homeowner is responsible for contacting an electrician to reattach the meter box and/or provide a permanent fix. In some instances, an electrical inspection may be required by the county before Duke Energy can reconnect service. An electrician can advise customers on next steps.
For rooftop solar owners, solar panels don’t guarantee power during an outage since they operate partly using energy from Duke Energy’s grid. Two exceptions are installing an off-grid solar system or installing a method of energy storage, such as batteries.
Outages can be reported online, through the Duke Energy mobile app, by texting OUT to 57801 or by calling 800.228.8485.
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.
