Power restoration times updated for Florida counties; Ninety-six percent of Pinellas, Pasco Counties Restored

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Sept. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Duke Energy has restored power to more than 1.2 million customers in Florida in four days and continues to restore the remaining 200,000 outages. 

Extensive damage and recent inclement weather has prompted the company to modify restoration times for its Florida service area.

"We are in the home stretch of restoring all our customers," said Harry Sideris, Duke Energy Florida president. "Given the scale and scope of the extensive repairs, we need just a little more time in some areas to finish the job. We are so grateful for our customers' patience and perseverance as we work through this historic restoration."

Times of restoration
Currently, the company expects to complete power restoration to all customers that can receive power in the following areas:

• By end of daySaturday, Sept. 16: The western portion of its service area. This includes Pinellas and Pasco counties. Currently 96 percent of customers have been restored. Some of the hardest hit areas that remain include Port Richey and Holiday in Pasco County and Venetian Isles, Snell Isle, Jungle Prada, Treasure Island, Pasadena, Lake Seminole, Disston area, Bardmoor, North Clearwater Beach and Belleair in Pinellas County.
• There is no change at this time to most central and northern portions of the service area.  It remains at end of day Sunday, Sept. 17. This includes Alachua, Bay, Brevard, Citrus, Columbia, Dixie, Flagler, Franklin, Gilchrist, Gulf, Hamilton, Hernando, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Leon, Levy, Madison, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Seminole, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Volusia, and Wakulla counties.
• By end of day Tuesday, Sept. 19: The severely impacted areas of Hardee and Highlands counties, the north Orange and Lake County border and some parts of northern Volusia County due to rebuilding the electrical system that suffered significant damage in those areas.

We will continue to work on isolated and scattered outages until all customers are restored.

For latest outage information and other company updates, visit news.duke-energy.com/irma.

About Duke Energy Florida
Duke Energy Florida owns and operates a diverse generation mix, including renewables, providing about 8,800 megawatts of owned electric capacity to approximately 1.8 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 Electric Utilities and Infrastructure business unit serves approximately 7.5 million customers located in six states in the Southeast and Midwest. The company's Gas Utilities and Infrastructure business unit distributes natural gas to approximately 1.6 million customers in the Carolinas, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. Its Commercial Renewables business unit operates a growing renewable energy portfolio across the United States.

Duke Energy is a Fortune 125 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK. More information about the company is available at duke-energy.com. 

The Duke Energy News Center serves as a multimedia resource for journalists and features news releases, helpful links, photos and videos. Hosted by Duke Energy, illumination is an online destination for stories about people, innovations, and community and environmental topics. It also offers glimpses into the past and insights into the future of energy.

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SOURCE Duke Energy