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As of 11 a.m, 35,000 outages remained; 192,000 outages restored
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More crews added to restoration efforts
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Hermine website: www.duke-energy.com/hermine
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Duke Energy Florida has restored more than 85 percent of customers left in the dark by Hurricane Hermine and continues to work to restore power as safely and quickly as possible.
Yesterday, our workers focused on completing the initial damage assessment process of our restoration strategy throughout our service territory. Customers may have seen our trucks in their areas, not performing restoration. This damage assessment allowed the company to be able to provide estimated restoration times at the county level.
Although many will be restored earlier, the goal is to have all customers in Pinellas and Pasco counties who can receive power restored before midnight tonight, and customers in Citrus County, which experienced extensive flooding, back on by 6 a.m. Sunday.
In North Florida, where the damage was the greatest and spread over a large number of counties, the company estimates customers will be restored before midnight Sunday, if not earlier.
As crews work individual outages and determine what repairs are needed and how long the work will take to complete, restoration times will be updated. Additional information can be found on the Duke Energy outage map online at www.duke-energy.com/outagemap.
“These scattered, isolated outages typically take longer to assess and repair than a single, widespread outage on a specific circuit,” said Luis Ordaz, storm director, Duke Energy–Florida. “Also, our hard-working line crews continue to be hampered by numerous downed trees and limbs, flooding and ongoing rain in many areas.”
Hermine was the first hurricane to make landfall in Florida in 11 years and caused power outages for nearly 220,000 Duke Energy customers in 31 of the 35 Florida counties we serve. Many of the outages from this storm are impacting small groups of customers, and damage is spread over a large area.
Duke Energy prioritizes work to restore outages impacting the largest number of customers and essential infrastructure, such as hospitals, law enforcement and fire departments, first. This process continues until all customers are restored.
Outage reporting and status updates
Customers who are without power can report outages in several ways:
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Visiting our mobile website at m.duke-energy.com
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Texting OUT to 57801 (Standard text and data charges may apply)
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Calling the automated outage-reporting system at 800.228.8485
For storm or power restoration updates, follow Duke Energy on Twitter (@DukeEnergy) and Facebook (Duke Energy).
About Duke Energy Florida
Duke Energy Florida owns and operates a diverse generation mix, including renewables, providing about 9,100 megawatts of owned electric capacity to approximately 1.7 million customers in a 13,000-square-mile service area.
With its Florida regional headquarters located in St. Petersburg, Fla., Duke Energy is one of the largest electric power holding companies in the United States. Its regulated utility operations serve approximately 7.4 million electric customers located in six states in the Southeast and Midwest, representing a population of approximately 24 million people. Its Commercial Portfolio and International business segments own and operate diverse power generation assets in North America and Latin America, including a growing portfolio of renewable energy assets in the United States.
Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Duke Energy is an S&P 100 Stock Index company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK. More information about the company is available at duke-energy.com.
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