Gulf Power restores power to nearly 12,000 in 12 hours following Tropical Storm Alberto

Gulf Power said Tuesday that its crews had restored power within 12 hours to 11,719 of the 460,000 customers who lost electricity during Tropical Storm Alberto, which made landfall in Laguna Beach, Florida, on Monday.

“We were closely monitoring every movement of the storm, and as soon as we knew it was likely to make landfall near Panama City, Gulf Power crews and equipment were positioned in advance to respond quickly to the hardest-hit areas,” Kimberly Blair, Gulf Power spokesperson, said. “We also had crews at the ready all across the service area. This quick restoration is a testament to the investments we’ve made to the grid, and storm preparation throughout the year.”

The majority of outages occurred in Bay, Okaloosa, and Walton counties.

Ongoing grid hardening and vegetation management efforts helped enable the quick restoration of power, Gulf Power said.

“The investments of vegetation management, storm hardening the grid and having storm-seasoned crews have paid huge dividends and the primary reason customers’ power has been restored quickly following this tropical storm,” Blair said. “Making sure our customers can count on us for reliable energy is very important, and the investments we continue to make in our system are paying off.”

Gulf Power crews have traveled more than 36 times to 14 different states since 2008 to assist with power restoration efforts after storms such as Hurricane Maria, Hurricane Irma, and Superstorm Sandy.