More than 50,000 working on power restoration following Hurricane Irma

Published on September 12, 2017 by Kevin Randolph


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More than 50,000 workers from the United States and Canada have so far addressed more than 1.25 million power outages affecting more than 7 million customers across Florida, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina following destruction caused by Hurricane Irma.

“This is likely to be one of the largest and most complex power restoration efforts in U.S. history,” Edison Electric Institute (EEI) President Tom Kuhn said.

The army of workers supporting power restoration from Irma, including workers from affected companies, as well as mutual assistance crews, contractors, and other support personnel, have been aided in part by recent investments utilities have made in energy grid technology and automation.

Following Hurricane Irma, which has since been downgraded to a tropical storm, affected utility companies have launched large-scale efforts to assess damage caused by the storm and restore power to customers.

Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) assembled a team of approximately 19,500 restoration workers, the largest such effort in the company’s efforts. FPL experienced a record number of outages due to Irma, with the company estimating the storm caused more than 5 million outages, including customers who experienced more than one outage.

Approximately 4.4 million FPL customers lost power, and power has been restored to more than 1.1 million of those customers.

“We have the largest restoration workforce in U.S. history responding to the worst storm in our company’s history,” Eric Silagy, president and CEO of FPL, said. “Our crews are out restoring power, and every hour of every day more and more people are getting their lights back. That said, we anticipate that much of the electric system in Southwest Florida will require a complete rebuild, which could take weeks. In contrast, we expect our electric system along Florida’s East Coast will require more traditional repairs. Regardless, this will be a lengthy restoration effort.”

Approximately 870,000 Georgia Power customers, half of the company’s residential customer base, are currently without power. The company reported more than 9,500 individual cases of damage or trouble, such as broken poles and lines, across its service territory. Georgia Power’s 5,500 personnel, other Southern Company operating companies and assisting utilities are working to restore power for the company’s customers.

At Duke Energy, more than 9,000 workers are mobilized to respond to power outages and assess storm damage. Duke Energy outages totaled 1.2 million in Florida, with nearly 100,000 customers restored in the early stages by midday Monday, the company said.

“Irma hit us hard, and now it’s time for us to swing back,” said Duke Energy Florida president Harry Sideris. “Our crews are up to the challenging work ahead, including rebuilding where necessary. We will not stop until we get everyone back on.”

The company outlined its priorities when it comes to restoring power, and it is working closely with local emergency management officials and public safety agencies in Florida. Duke Energy will first restore power to critical infrastructure, such as hospitals, fire stations and emergency centers. It will simultaneously work to repair power transmission lines and damaged substations that affect the largest number of customers. Work to bring power back to customers in smaller areas will follow suit.

“For customers in the hardest hit areas that require rebuilding the system, this may take a week or more,” Duke Energy said.

Utility companies urged their customers to stay safe by avoiding downed power lines and standing water.

Despite investments utilities have made to strengthen the grid, given the strength of the storm, in some parts of Florida electricity infrastructure will need to be rebuilt before power can be restored. As a result, customers should be prepared for the possibility of extended power outages.

“We know that being without electricity creates hardships, and we greatly appreciate customers’ patience as electric companies work day and night to assess damage and to restore power where and when conditions are safe to do so,” Kuhn said. “Companies will continue their storm restoration efforts around the clock until the last customer who can receive power is restored.”

EEI and the electric power industry are coordinating with the federal government, other segments of the industry and critical infrastructure operators through the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC) to identify issues that will expedite power restoration.