Duke Energy Florida is emphasizing its ongoing initiatives to reinforce utility poles in vulnerable regions across the state, aiming to enhance their resilience against high winds as the 2023 hurricane season unfolds.
These efforts involve the installation of larger and sturdier poles designed to withstand extreme weather conditions, including hurricanes, reducing susceptibility to wind damage and debris impact.
“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.”
To determine the optimal areas for these strengthening measures, the company considers factors such as past performance records, asset data, vegetation coverage, and predicted weather patterns. Since 2021, Duke Energy Florida has reinforced over 12,000 distribution system poles and 4,000 transmission system poles.
The pole upgrades constitute just one aspect of Duke Energy Florida’s comprehensive endeavors to fortify the electric system. These efforts include wire upgrades, underground placement of outage-prone lines, vegetation management near power lines, and the implementation of self-healing technology that can automatically detect and redirect power outages, leading to faster restoration times.
