Duke Energy Florida has been named a recipient of the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) Emergency Response Award, recognizing its efforts to restore power following Hurricane Milton in October 2024. The EEI awards are given twice a year to electric companies for their recovery and assistance work after major service disruptions caused by extreme weather or natural events. Recipients are selected by a panel of judges through an international nomination process.
“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,” said EEI President and CEO Drew Maloney. “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 struck Florida as a Category 3 hurricane on October 9, 2024, causing about one million power outages. Within approximately four days, Duke Energy Florida restored service to 95% of affected customers by mobilizing around 16,000 resources. The company replaced more than 1,600 power poles, over 1,300 transformers, and nearly one million feet of wire and cable during its restoration efforts.
The company also used self-healing technology covering about 80% of its customer base that automatically detected outages and rerouted electricity, preventing an estimated 3.3 million hours of additional outages.
“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,” said Todd Fountain, Duke Energy Florida storm director. “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 serves two million residential, commercial, and industrial customers across a large area in Florida with an energy capacity of 12,300 megawatts.
The company reminds customers that hurricane season continues through much of the year; information about preparedness can be found at duke-energy.com/StormTips.
EEI represents U.S. investor-owned electric companies serving nearly 250 million Americans across all states plus Washington D.C., with members supporting over seven million jobs nationwide. It also includes more than fifty international electric companies among its membership.
For further details about Duke Energy or EEI’s activities in emergency response or industry standards visit duke-energy.com or contact Aly Raschid at Duke Energy or Jeremy Ortiz at EEI.
