Tampa Electric begins to implement storm protection plan
Tampa Electric has started to implement its Storm Protection Plan to strengthen the electric system to better withstand hurricanes and other extreme weather events.
The Storm Protection Plan is designed to have fewer and shorter outages after extreme weather events. Work is now underway on some aspects of it.
“Investing in the future is part of our promise to do everything we safely can to keep the power on in blue skies and gray ones,” Nancy Tower, president and CEO of Tampa Electric, said. “It’s part of our commitment to work 24 hours a day to provide safe, reliable, and affordable power to all our customers.”
The 10-year plan was approved by the Florida Public Service Commission earlier this year. It calls for converting certain overhead lines to underground, trimming trees more frequently, replacing remaining wooden transmission poles with concrete or steel poles, making substations more resilient by raising some equipment or building flood walls, and installing stronger poles and improved technology along certain power lines.
To determine which lines should be installed underground, Tampa Electric evaluated the areas most vulnerable to major storms. The plan outlines improvements for the next 10 years, and it will be updated at least every three years.
Tampa Electric, a subsidiary of Emera Inc., serves about 780,000 customers in West Central Florida.
