Power restored to more than 95 percent of customers following Hurricane Michael, Gul Power says

Gulf Power announced Tuesday that power had been restored to more than 95 percent of all customers who were able to safely receive power, 13 days after Hurricane Michael left the Florida Panhandle and 30 hours ahead of the estimated timeline.

Gulf Power and storm crews from across the U.S. have rebuilt a substantial portion of the electric system in Bay County, which serves approximately 103,000 customers.

“This is a major milestone. It was important for us to quickly mobilize the resources needed to rebuild our energy system and restore power for our Gulf Power customers for this critical first step in recovery for the entire community,” Stan Connally, chair, president and CEO of Gulf Power, said. “However, the work is just beginning for many, with thousands of Gulf Power customers unable to safely reconnect.”

Gulf Power estimates approximately 15,000 to 20,000 customers still cannot safely take power due to hurricane damage to their home or business.

“The entire storm restoration team has felt the appreciation and encouragement from the community, and we want to thank each one of our customers for their patience and support as we worked around the clock to restore power,” Connally said. “And that commitment won’t stop as we transition our work to customer reconnects and completing the rebuild of the smart-grid infrastructure.”

Gulf Power noted that once a licensed electrician can make necessary repairs, they may call Gulf Power to schedule a reconnect.

Much of the workforce from across the United States will be returning home, but more than 1,000 crew members will remain to continue restoration work, which will include reconnecting customers, cleaning up electrical equipment and physically electrically repairing the system.

“We are keeping a team of approximately 10 times the number of crew members than normally work the four-county area affected by Hurricane Michael to ensure we can serve our customers as quickly and safely as possible. It is our mission to assist in accelerating the recovery of these communities because this is our home and we are here to stay,” Connally said. “This was an unprecedented storm, and our unprecedented response will continue.”