Utilities continue Hurricane Ian restoration efforts in Florida, Carolinas, Virginia
As of this morning, power companies across the country had an army of more than 44,000 workers from 33 states and the District of Columbia continuing Hurricane Ian restoration efforts in Florida, while more than 12,000 workers were responding to outages in the Carolinas and Virginia.
As of 9 a.m. (ET), electric companies in Florida already had restored power to more than three million customers with roughly 600,000 customers still without power in the state; and power companies in the Carolinas and Virginia already had restored power to more than one million customers with some 4,500 customers to go across the three states, according to the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), which represents all of the nation’s investor-owned utilities (IOUs).
“The significant investments made in hardening critical transmission and distribution infrastructure in Florida have enabled crews to accelerate customer restoration,” EEI said early on Oct. 3. “Investments in smarter energy infrastructure also have greatly increased situational awareness, helping this efficient response.”
As power is restored to customers who are able to safely receive it, EEI reported that mutual assistance crews also will start to reallocate workers to support restoration efforts in other communities impacted by the devastating hurricane.
“This strategic reallocation of workers will continue until every customer who is able to receive power is safely restored,” said EEI, noting that the CEO-led Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council continues to meet to ensure ongoing mutual assistance efforts across the industry and government.
For instance, after making significant progress over the weekend, Florida Power & Light Co. (FPL) said that as of 11 a.m. (ET) Monday, electricity had been restored to 83 percent of affected customers, with crews working to restore power to the remaining 369,000 FPL customers.
The utility also said it now expects to complete restoration to 95 percent of customers who remain without power by Oct. 7, thanks to a workforce of more than 21,000 workers, including mutual assistance from 30 states.
“Finishing our restoration sooner will allow us to free up resources to help others in the state,” said FPL Chairman and CEO Eric Silagy. “Now that our workforce has energized the majority of main power lines — the arteries of the electrical system — we are fanning out into communities and neighborhoods, and we will not stop until everyone’s power is restored.”
FPL’s massive effort is currently supported by 18 staging and parking sites from where crews and equipment are deployed. That number is down from a peak of 38 as FPL completes restoration and then shifts resources to the hardest-hit areas, according to Silagy.
Tampa Electric also has restored power to the vast majority of its customers affected by Hurricane Ian.
By 5 p.m. on Oct. 2, Tampa Electric had restored power to about 280,000 customers, or 94 percent of those affected by the storm, and by 8 p.m. last night, the company reported that approximately 12,000 outages remained, but it expects to restore most of those by Monday night.
“These final days of restoration are largely focused on labor-intensive outages, including several areas with severe damage,” said Tampa Electric President and CEO Archie Collins. “These repairs will take some time. Rest assured, we will not stop until every customer is restored.”
At the same time, Duke Energy Florida also continues to make major progress as it works to restore power following Hurricane Ian in its service territory.
“Duke Energy Florida continues to press ahead and restore outages throughout our territory,” said Todd Fountain, Duke Energy Florida storm director. “There are hard-hit areas that will require more extensive work. But we are not stopping until all customers are restored.”
Currently, Duke Energy Florida estimates that 90 percent of its customers in Highlands, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Seminole, and Volusia counties in Florida would have power by today.
As of 2 p.m. Sunday, the company had restored power for more than 930,000 customers, with 77,000 customers still remaining.
Fountain added that while greatly improved weather conditions have aided efforts, the company is still facing local flooding and other access challenges, especially in the central and eastern counties.
“We know being without electricity creates hardships and is frustrating during ordinary times,” EEI said in a statement. “While you may not see electric company personnel working in your neighborhood, the energy grid is heavily interconnected, and crews are working throughout the system. Every electric company has a detailed plan for restoring power after storms.”
