Duke Energy Florida continues storm hardening work, improves reliability for customers by strategically upgrading utility poles across the state

• Since 2021, Duke Energy Florida has upgraded more than 16,000 poles on its distribution and transmission systems
• Work is part of the company's efforts to strengthen the electric system, reduce outage impacts and improve overall reliability for customers

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., June 21, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Less than a month into the 2023 hurricane season, Duke Energy Florida is reminding customers of the work underway to install stronger utility poles in vulnerable areas across the state to better withstand high winds.

Hardening efforts include installing larger, stronger poles that are less susceptible to damage from wind and flying debris during extreme weather events such as hurricanes.

"This work is incredibly important and is part of a multi-layered grid improvement strategy to strengthen the grid against severe weather and other impacts and help improve reliability and resiliency," said Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida state president. "Three hundred sixty-five days a year we are working to improve our system and strengthen the state's energy grid, making it more resilient and secure for our customers and communities."

The company uses previous performance history, asset data, vegetation coverage and predicted weather impact to determine which areas would be ideal for hardening efforts. Since 2021, the company has hardened more than 12,000 poles on its distribution system and 4,000 on its transmission system.

Pole upgrades are just some of the many Duke Energy Florida projects underway to strengthen the electric system, reduce outage frequency and duration and enhance overall reliability for customers.

Throughout the year, the company installs stronger poles and upgrades wires, places outage-prone lines underground, trims vegetation near power lines and installs self-healing technology that can automatically detect power outages and reroute power to other lines to restore power faster.

Duke Energy Florida

Duke Energy Florida, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, owns 10,500 megawatts of energy capacity, supplying electricity to 1.9 million residential, commercial and industrial customers across a 13,000-square-mile service area in Florida.

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of America's largest energy holding companies. Its electric utilities serve 8.2 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and collectively own 50,000 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas unit serves 1.6 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. The company employs 27,600 people.

Duke Energy is executing an aggressive clean energy transition to achieve its goals of net-zero methane emissions from its natural gas business by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions from electricity generation by 2050. The company has interim carbon emission targets of at least 50% reduction from electric generation by 2030, 50% for Scope 2 and certain Scope 3 upstream and downstream emissions by 2035, and 80% from electric generation by 2040. In addition, the company is investing in major electric grid enhancements and energy storage, and exploring zero-emission power generation technologies such as hydrogen and advanced nuclear. 

Duke Energy was named to Fortune's 2023 "World's Most Admired Companies" list and Forbes' "World's Best Employers" list. More information is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke Energy News Center contains news releases, fact sheets, photos and videos. Duke Energy's illumination features stories about people, innovations, community topics and environmental issues. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

Media contact: Audrey Stasko
Media line: 800.559.3853
Twitter: @DE_AudreyS

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SOURCE Duke Energy