Duke Energy Florida upgrades utility poles to improve reliability, continue storm hardening
Duke Energy Florida announced this week that it is continuing to install stronger utility poles across the state as a way to improve reliability and strengthen its system against storm damage.
The company said it has installed larger, stronger poles that are less susceptible to damage from high winds and flying debris during extreme weather events. Since 2021, the company has upgraded more than 16,000 polies on its distribution and transmission systems. The work, the company said will also help reduce outage impacts and improve the overall reliability for customers.
“This work is incredibly important and is part of a multi-layered grid improvement strategy to strengthen the grid against severe weather and other impacts and help improve reliability and resiliency,” Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida state president, said. “Three hundred sixty-five days a year we are working to improve our system and strengthen the state’s energy grid, making it more resilient and secure for our customers and communities.”
Using previous performance history, asset data, vegetation coverage and predicted weather impacts, the company determined which areas needed more hardening efforts. Additionally, the company has several other projects underway to strengthen the electric system, reduce outage frequency and duration, and enhance reliability, including upgrading wires, placing outage-prone lines underground, trimming vegetation near power lines and installing self-healing technologies that will detect power outages and reroute power to other lines to restore power faster.