10/17/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 10/18/2024 13:23
If you experienced property damage or flooding of any kind, please work with licensed electricians to inspect your system and make any necessary repairs before power is restored, and before you turn on your circuit breaker. This measure is for your personal safety and allows us to safely restore your power. A licensed electrician can inspect and make repairs as needed and coordinate with local building authorities for any required permitting. We will be there for you, ready to restore power when your damage is resolved and it's safe to energize. Visit TampaElectric.com/DamagedEquipment to learn which equipment relies on Tampa Electric for repairs and when to call a licensed electrician. Visit TampaElectric.com/Storm for important safety tips to keep in mind after the storm.
On Friday morning, about 2,000 Tampa Electric customers remained without power. At this stage of restoration, repairs are complex and time consuming, often impactingjust a few homes or a single home. Please know, that you have not been forgotten. Our crew members will continue working around the clock to restore power to all Tampa Electric customers.
We appreciate your patience and thank you for your support as we recover from this devastating storm together.
On Thursday morning, about 1% of Tampa Electric customers remained without power. Please know, that you have not been forgotten. Our crew members will continue working around the clock, as quickly and safely as possible, until every Tampa Electric customer has power.
US 92 Near Dover.
As of Wednesday afternoon, 3 percent of Tampa Electric customers were still without power. We will continue working 24/7 with our full contingent of 6,000 utility crew members to address the remaining outages as safely, efficiently and quickly as possible.
Utility worker restoring power.
Tampa Electric neared its goal of restoring essentially all customers affected by Hurricane Milton. As of 8 p.m. Tuesday evening, nearly 92% of Tampa Electric customers had power and 88% of customers impacted by the storm had their service restored. For those customers remaining, 6,000 utility workers will continue working around the clock to restore power.
Nearly 70 percent of our customers affected by outages from Hurricane Milton had their power restored by early morning on Monday, October 14.
We made significant progress throughout our service area, restoring essentially all customers in Polk County by Sunday, October 13, ahead of our October 14 goal. We continued to make steady progress in Pasco County and have sent more resources to Dade City to accelerate our efforts there.
At this phase of the restoration process, we had a growing number of utility workers in neighborhoods. We operate approximately 800 circuits that deliver electricity to homes and businesses, each circuit serving up to a thousand or more customers, and each requiring varying resources to repair. When making these repairs, we prioritize them in a way that restores power to the largest groups of customers in the shortest amount of time. It is important to note that customers in the same neighborhood may be on different circuits, which explains why one neighbor may have power and another does not.
On October 11, Tampa Electric announced estimated restoration dates for essentially all Tampa Electric customers by county:
With this announcement, we noted that some complex outages may take longer to resolve. The final days of restoration would be largely focused on labor-intensive outages, including areas with severe damage.
For all customers who are still without power, we will continue working until everyone is restored. Thank you for your support as we recover together.
It takes an army to respond to a storm like Hurricane Milton. When we heard the catastrophic weather predictions, we sprang to action. We assembled more than 6,000 utility workers from as far away as Canada, Texas and Minnesota and staged them safely outside Milton's projected path. To host a crew this large, we built eight base camps across our service area, each with support personnel, tons of replacement electrical equipment and several acres of land for trucks and living facilities. To keep these heroes working around the clock, we provide sleeping trucks, laundry service, portable bathrooms, first aid, fuel stations and three meals a day.
Tampa Electric base camp at the Florida State Fairgrounds.
Tampa Electric operatesapproximately 800 circuits that bring power into neighborhoods, each serving about a thousand customers. Residents in the same neighborhood may be on different circuits, which explains why one neighbor may have power and another does not.
A. All customers are important and equal to Tampa Electric. Our recovery strategy is to restore power to the largest number of customers in the shortest amount of time. If you wonder why a neighbor or nearby neighborhood has power but you don't, it's likely because your neighbor is powered by a different circuit/feeder line.
Tampa Electric hasabout 800 circuits that deliver electricity to homes and businesses. Each circuit serves up to a thousand (or more!) customers, and each one requires varying resources to repair depending on the damage. Which circuits get restored first? Easier repairs benefitting the most customers will be addressed sooner than repairs that resolve fewer outages and take a lot more time and people.
This strategy allows us to help the community return to normal as fast as possible. Every single customer matters equally to us, and we haven't forgotten about anyone. We're working 24/7 to get every customer's lights back on.
A.Unfortunately, Hurricane Milton did more damage to the transmission lines on our grid than we'veseen in any recent storm. These lines must be repaired before power can be delivered to our substations and then neighborhoods. It is more efficient to send utility crews into neighborhoodsto fix regular lineswhen power is available to deliver to them. We ask for the community's patience and understanding as we proceedthrough this complex and painstaking restoration effort as safely, quicklyand efficiently as possible.
See below to learn how electricity is delivered from our power plants to your home, similar to how your heart distributes blood throughout your body.
A.Restoration was relatively fasterin Polk Countythan other parts of our service area because we have fewer customers thereandfewer repairs were required. Hillsborough County containsmost of our customer base and suffered severe damage. After restoration began in Pasco County, our efforts were challenged by delayed inland flooding which limited our access to make essential repairs, and we discovered severe localized damage that appears to have been due to tornado activity. Severe damage and access limitations make it more difficult to restore power and therefore take longer to resolve. We are working 24/7 and are continually evaluating remaining restoration needs to focus resources for safe, efficientand quick restoration to every single customer whose home or business can safely receive power.
A. If your home or business' electrical equipment has been affected by flooding or other storm damage, you may not be able to safely receive electricity. In these cases, we recommend that you work with a licensed electrician to inspect your system and make any necessary repairs before power is restored and/or before turning on your circuit breaker. This is important for your personal safety as well as your home and electronics. In cases where your home or business has experienced structural damage or flooding of any kind, we recommend that you keep your circuit breaker off until a licensed electrician can inspect and repair your system as applicable and can coordinate with local building authorities for any required permitting. Power will be restored when private electrical or property damage is resolved and it's safe to energize.
Where it appears that electric meters have been damaged, we are inspecting and replacing them as needed. To safely repair or replace an electric meter, we must shut off power. Before power can safely be restored, a licensed electrician should inspect and repair the privately-owned electrical equipment, which includes but is not limited to the meter pedestal and circuit breaker.
Visit TampaElectric.com/DamagedEquipment to learn which equipment relies on Tampa Electric for repairs and when you need to call a licensed electrician.
A. We understand that finding support is crucial during the aftermath of Hurricane Milton. Please visit TampaElectric.com/Updatesfor agencies that may help with recovery efforts, from emergency aid to long-term rebuilding resources.
A.We know that not having an estimated restoration for your specific addressis frustrating, especially while many other people's power has been restoredand you'restill waiting.Providing an estimatedrestorationfor essentially allcustomers, versus individual restoration times,is a very commonapproach for electric utilitiesduringhurricane response. While our outage map's individualized estimated restoration time is a great function under normal circumstances and for smallstorms, it is not intended to provide individualized estimates whenthe utility is addressing alarge volumeof outagesand complexdamage inflicted by hurricanes. We strive to provide the most realistic expectations for our customers - to do that with a severe storm, we provide an estimated restoration time that applies to essentially allcustomers (and sometimes we can break that down by area, as we did with Helene and Milton).We are working hard to get everyone's power back on as soon as we can.