ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Sept. 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- As of 5 p.m. ET today, Duke Energy Florida's crews restored power for over 600,000 customers, while nearly 150,000 continue to experience outages as a result of Hurricane Helene.

Our workforce is more than 8,000 strong, with many working through the night to get everyone's power back on. (Click here and here for aerial saw video.)

This afternoon, the company established estimated times of restoration for the company's Big Bend and North Florida counties for 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. Approximately 95% of these customers are expected to be restored, though many will be restored sooner.

With these latest estimated times, the majority of customers in Duke Energy Florida's territory will be restored by tomorrow.

However, coastal areas of Pinellas County experienced significant damage from storm surge and strong wind. Many of the barrier islands and areas along Gulf Boulevard will require a rebuild and will take longer to energize. Additionally, due to the damage to homes and businesses, some structures will not be able to receive power.

"We are closely collaborating with our communities in areas devastated by this historic storm," said Todd Fountain, Duke Energy Florida storm director. "We understand that we provide an essential service, and it can be frustrating to be without power. We appreciated your patience and support during this challenging time."

Reasons why you may not receive power by the expected time

We do our best to ensure our estimates are as accurate as possible, but we occasionally must adjust those times as we uncover additional damage or problems with access.

Sometimes, customers may see a neighbor's lights come back on while they are still without power. A few explanations:

• Parts of the neighborhood may be served by different circuits, and not all circuits come back at the same time.
• There may also be a problem with their individual service line or their meter.

If the meter box is pulled away from a customer's house or mobile home service pole and power is not being received, the homeowner is responsible for contacting an electrician to reattach the meter box and/or provide a permanent fix. In some instances, an electrical inspection may be required by the county before Duke Energy can reconnect service. An electrician can advise customers on next steps.

For rooftop solar owners, solar panels don't guarantee power during an outage since they operate partly using energy from Duke Energy's grid. Two exceptions are installing an off-grid solar system or installing a method of energy storage, such as batteries.

Outages can be reported online, through the Duke Energy mobile app, by texting OUT to 57801 or by calling 800.228.8485.

The most up-to-date information about restoration efforts can be accessed on Duke Energy's Outage Map or by enrolling in Outage Alerts.

For more information and resources, please visit dukeenergyupdates.com/Florida.

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 X, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook, and visit illumination for stories about the people and innovations powering our energy transition. 

Contact: Ana Gibbs

24-Hour: 800.559.3853 

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SOURCE Duke Energy