Duke Energy : strengthens the grid, increases resiliency ahead of the 2024 hurricane season
DUK
More than 70% of Duke Energy Florida customers now benefit from smart, self-healing technologies
Duke Energy Florida encourages customers to have a plan in place
ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. - Resiliency is the ability to recover quickly from a disruption, and Duke Energy Florida has been preparing ahead of the start of hurricane season to respond quickly and restore power faster when the next storm strikes.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts an above-normal hurricane season with 17 to 25 named storms this season, including 8 to 13 hurricanes, and 4 to 7 of those becoming major hurricanes. This year's forecast predicts around 30% more storm activity compared to the number of storms predicted last year.
The company has a comprehensive and flexible storm response plan, built upon decades of experience and improvement. Advanced forecasting and damage modeling processes help the company to place crews, support resources and equipment strategically ahead of a storm to respond quickly as outages occur.
Duke Energy Florida maintains an electric army of nearly 4,000 employees and contractors ready to respond to outages when storms strike. And alliances with peer utilities provide additional resources to shorten response times and get communities back on their feet faster.
Building a stronger, more resilient power grid
Thanks to its Storm Protection Plan and the company's year-round infrastructure work, Duke Energy Florida is making improvements and upgrades to its systems and lines to support the rapid growth of our Florida communities, enhance its storm response and provide better information when outages do occur.
Some of these improvements include upgrading thousands of poles and wires to increase reliability and better withstand storms, strategically placing outage-prone lines underground in some areas, managing trees and vegetation, and installing smart, self-healing technology that can automatically detect power outages and quickly restore power when an outage occurs.
These investments are already benefitting Florida customers. In 2023, the company had its best reliability performance in more than a decade. Between 2018 and 2023, the company reduced the average length of a customer outage by 27%.
Personal preparedness is key to a more resilient home or business
Duke Energy Florida encourages its customers to prepare for potential hurricanes and other severe storms and to have a plan to increase their personal resiliency following a major storm. Below are some recommended safety tips:
Before the storm
During the storm
After the storm
For more tips on how to prepare for storm season and how Duke Energy can help, please visit duke-energy.com/StormTips. For storm or power restoration updates, follow Duke Energy on Twitter (@DukeEnergy) and Facebook (Duke Energy).
Outage reporting
Customers who experience an outage during a storm can report it the following ways:
Customer service specialists also will be available to manage customer calls should the need arise, with more than 1,500 additional corporate responders from across all Duke Energy jurisdictions available to assist as needed.
Duke Energy Florida
Duke Energy Florida, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, owns 12,300 megawatts of energy capacity, supplying electricity to 2 million residential, commercial and industrial customers across a 13,000-square-mile service area in Florida.
Duke Energy
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of America's largest energy holding companies. The company's electric utilities serve 8.4 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and collectively own 54,800 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas utilities serve 1.7 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky.
Duke Energy is executing an ambitious clean energy transition, keeping reliability, affordability and accessibility at the forefront as the company works toward net-zero methane emissions from its natural gas business by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions from electricity generation by 2050. The company is investing in major electric grid upgrades and cleaner generation, including expanded energy storage, renewables, natural gas and nuclear.
More information is available at duke-energy.com and the Duke Energy News Center. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook, and visit illumination for stories about the people and innovations powering our energy transition.
Contact: Audrey Stasko Media line: 800.559.3853 Twitter: @DE_AudreyS
Disclaimer
Duke Energy Corporation published this content on 01 July 2024 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 01 July 2024 13:01:29 UTC.