Storm Protection Program will mean fewer – and shorter – outages after severe weather
Hurricane season starts today, and Tampa Electric is prepared for whatever Mother Nature has in store. The company’s year-round preparations enable Tampa Electric to handle the potential impacts of hurricanes and widespread power outages.
During hurricane season, which runs through Nov. 30, severe storms can damage Tampa Electric’s equipment, and power outages may occur. Tampa Electric continues to invest in strategic projects to help reduce the impact of power outages – and to reduce restoration time.
Tampa Electric invested more than $120 million last year to strengthen the system against severe weather, which includes infrastructure replacement, tree trimming and pole inspections. In 2021, Tampa Electric:
- Strengthened or replaced over 1,200 distribution power poles.
- Strengthened more than 700 transmission structures.
- Inspected more than 20,000 wooden power poles.
- Trimmed tree limbs and branches from more than 2,300 miles of power lines.
The company is installing technology that enables self-healing. This technology will automatically isolate outages and will route power around the problem, without sending a worker into the field. This will dramatically reduce the number of customers affected by the outage – and will speed restoration. Where this technology has been installed, customers have seen a 63 percent reduction in outages and momentary flickers so far this year.
Our strategic investments are bringing value to customers. In 2020 and ‘21, Tampa Electric customers saw consecutive annual improvements in several reliability performance measures.
Tampa Electric’s Storm Protection Program will help strengthen the system to better withstand extreme weather events, such as hurricanes. This program will mean fewer outages for customers, and shorter outages after extreme weather events. The plan includes:
- Converting certain overhead lines to underground, averaging 75 to 100 miles per year.
- Trimming trees more frequently.
- Making substations more resilient by raising some equipment or building flood walls.
- Installing stronger, more storm-resistant poles and improved technology along certain power lines.
Tampa Electric wants customers to be prepared
Tampa Electric encourages all customers to have a personal storm plan in place for their home or business. Visit tampaelectric.com/storm for tips, restoration information and additional guidance. Visit your county’s emergency management website to determine your flood zone, your hurricane evacuation zone, get flood depth data, flood insurance information, or help with property flood protection for residents.
Assistance is available to those with special needs during storm-related emergencies. Register for special needs disaster assistance. If you or someone in your home have special needs and may require help locating a shelter and transportation, now is the time to contact your county’s emergency management agency to arrange for assistance.
Tampa Electric offers customers several ways to report and monitor power outages:
- Log into your online account at com to report the outage with one click. Visit tampaelectric.com/outage and report your outage.
- Text OUT to 27079. Text UPDATE or STATUS for updates on your reported outage.
- Call 1-877-588-1010, Tampa Electric’s dedicated toll-free automated power outage phone system.
- Go to com/notifications and sign up for free outage notifications by text, email or phone calls.
- Visit our outage map at tampaelectric.com/outagemap to report and track outages. You can also get restoration status.
Tampa Electric also will use Facebook facebook.com/tampaelectric and Twitter @tampaelectric to keep customers informed about outage restoration.
Electrical safety guidelines
As with all its activities, safety is always Tampa Electric’s No. 1 priority after a storm. Following a storm, Tampa Electric teams patrol the electric system to locate problems. Customers can enhance their safety and Tampa Electric’s restoration efforts by observing the following guidelines:
- Stay away from any downed power lines. Downed lines do not have to pop and snap to be energized. Assume all downed power lines are energized. Everyone should avoid contact with a downed line or any object – such as a tree branch, fence, vehicle or even water – that has come in contact with a downed power line.
- Use portable generators safely. Do not connect a portable generator directly to a home circuit. Plug appliances directly into the generator. Connecting a generator to home circuits may cause power to flow to outside lines, called backfeed, which can pose life-threatening danger to restoration crews.
- Also, portable generators must be properly ventilated. Do not use a generator inside a residence or any enclosed space, such as a garage or lanai, where deadly carbon monoxide could accumulate.
- In the event of an outage, prepare the home for power restoration. Customers should make sure their homes are ready to safely receive electricity once power has been restored. Make sure there are no flammable items on the stove, no irons left on or other potentially dangerous situations. Turn off as many appliances as possible that require electricity and turn them on individually after power is restored. This causes less stress to the power system and ensures that all customers get restored without unnecessary delays. When leaving the home for an extended period, customers should switch off their power at the main breaker.
Tampa Electric, one of Florida’s largest investor-owned electric utilities, serves about 800,000 customers in West Central Florida. Tampa Electric is a subsidiary of Emera Inc., a geographically diverse energy and services company headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
