Duke Energy’s year-round grid upgrades and advanced technologies played a vital role in minimizing the impact of back-to-back hurricanes Helene and Milton in Florida, ensuring faster power restorations for customers. The company’s self-healing grid technology helped prevent over 300,000 outages, saving customers more than 300 million minutes of downtime.
This technology works like a GPS navigation system, quickly identifying outages and rerouting power to restore service swiftly. It can isolate the source of an outage and reduce the number of affected customers by up to 75%, often restoring power in less than a minute. About 77% of Duke Energy Florida’s customers benefit from this technology.
“With storms increasing in frequency and intensity, Duke Energy Florida’s Storm Protection Plan, ongoing infrastructure improvements, and preparedness efforts are key to our ability to respond swiftly and safely,” said Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida state president. “We’re continuously working to enhance reliability, strengthen the grid, and improve storm response.”
In addition to self-healing technology, the company invests in strengthening the grid by managing vegetation near power lines, reinforcing poles, upgrading wires, and burying lines in targeted areas. Over the past three years, Duke Energy Florida has hardened more than 40,000 poles as part of its Storm Protection Plan, with plans to harden nearly 15,000 more annually. Nearly 50% of the primary power lines in the area are underground, and the company continues to prioritize underground cable installations in areas where it’s most practical.
Duke Energy Florida also focuses on maintaining its infrastructure, completing over 4,000 miles of vegetation maintenance on distribution lines and 600 miles of work on transmission lines last year. Furthermore, the company is expanding the electric grid by building new substations, expanding existing ones, and adding new transmission lines to meet Florida’s growing energy needs. Since 2021, the company has completed over 100 miles of new transmission lines, upgraded nearly 100 miles, and built approximately 16 new substations.
These grid improvements, along with a dedicated workforce and partnerships with first responders and emergency organizations, enhance Duke Energy Florida’s ability to restore power efficiently after major storms. The company continues to learn from each storm to improve future responses and ensure reliable service for its customers.
