Duke Energy Florida has been recognized by the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) with an Emergency Response Award for its efforts in restoring power after Hurricane Milton. The award, given twice a year, honors electric companies for their recovery and assistance following service disruptions caused by severe weather or natural events. Recipients are selected by a panel of judges through an international nomination process, and the awards were presented at EEI’s Fall Board of Directors and Chief Executives Meeting.
EEI President and CEO Drew Maloney stated, “America’s electric companies and their dedicated workforces work tirelessly throughout the year to strengthen the energy grid and to restore power – and peace of mind – for American families and businesses after extreme weather events and natural disasters. EEI is proud to recognize Duke Energy Florida for its extraordinary response efforts following Hurricane Milton. This recovery award reflects Duke Energy Florida and its storm response team’s incredible commitment to the customers and communities they serve.”
Hurricane Milton made landfall as a Category 3 storm on October 9, 2024. Duke Energy Florida responded by mobilizing 16,000 resources, restoring power to 95% of the approximately one million affected customers within 96 hours. The company replaced damaged equipment such as 1,640 power poles, 1,350 transformers, and nearly one million feet of wire and cable during the restoration process.
The company also used self-healing technology that covers about 80% of its customer base. This system automatically detects outages and reroutes power, which helped save an estimated 3.3 million hours of outages during Hurricane Milton.
Todd Fountain, Duke Energy Florida storm director, said: “While Hurricane Milton was a devastating storm that left much of Florida’s west-central coast in the dark, our team’s strategic response helped get our customers’ lights back on as quickly as possible, allowing them to focus on what really matters, like their families and businesses, and begin to pick up the pieces of their lives. We know they depend on us for that, and it’s a responsibility we take extremely seriously – not just during hurricane season, but all year long.”
Duke Energy Florida continues to advise customers to prepare for ongoing hurricane risks during the current Atlantic hurricane season. Information about storm preparedness can be found at duke-energy.com/StormTips or through the Red Cross Emergency mobile app.
EEI represents all U.S. investor-owned electric companies serving nearly 250 million Americans across all states and supporting over seven million jobs nationwide.
Duke Energy Florida serves two million customers across a 13,000-square-mile area in Florida with a total energy capacity of 12,300 megawatts.
Duke Energy is based in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is among America’s largest energy holding companies with electric utilities serving over eight million customers across six states.
For more information about Duke Energy visit duke-energy.com or follow their social media channels.
