A week ago marked the meteorological peak of Atlantic hurricane season, which Duke Energy prepares for year-round through its continual grid-hardening work. Every pole upgrade and self-healing device on the grid reduces how many customers lose power and how fast they get it back when a storm hits.

“The lessons we’ve learned from past storms have driven meaningful investments in the grid over the last several years,” said Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida state president. “We prepare for hurricane season year-round so that when a storm does hit, we’re prepared, our infrastructure is more resilient and we’re ready to respond to anything this season brings.”

Here's the grid hardening work by the numbers:

• 60% of wooden transmission poles have been upgraded to stronger materials over the last five years
   
• About 50% of the distribution system is now underground, shielded from the elements
   
• 82% of more than 2 million customers are now served by self-healing technology that automatically detects outages and reroutes power
   
• The average outage duration per customer was 64 minutes in 2025, the lowest in more than two decades, excluding named storms
   
• Duke Energy Foundation has awarded $155,000 in grants this year to local organizations supporting storm preparedness

To prepare for the storm season ahead, Duke Energy advises customers to build a storm kit with medicine, water, nonperishable food, a portable radio and a first aid kit. They can also sign up for outage alerts, monitor the outage map and stay clear of downed lines.