Schooled by Charley, Irma and other storms, electric utilities of the Orlando region say they have confidence in their crews, reinforcements and ample restoration hardware for Hurricane Ian’s aftermath.
Duke Energy and Orlando Utilities Commission said that despite supply-chain shortages this year they have been able to obtain the hardware needed for restoration, including wooden poles, overhead wire and transformers.
“We started last year and have ordered all season long to get ahead,” said OUC spokesperson Michelle Lynch.
A public utility of the city of Orlando, OUC is not large and must rely on alliances with other public utilities in Florida and elsewhere in the nation, as well as private contractors such as Pike Electric that specialize in storm response.
Spokesperson Clarissa Howard said Winter Park’s municipal utility has brought in extra crew and has agreements in place to bring in more.
“Winter Park Electric is very well stocked with equipment and resources to handle a multiday restoration,” Howard said.
Investor-owned Duke Energy, one of the nation’ largest power providers and the largest in Central Florida, can turn to its own extensive inventory and labor force.
Spokesperson Ana Gibbs said that for Florida restoration work the utility is bringing in 9,000 line workers, vegetation managers, damage assessors and other personnel from as far as Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Maine, New Jersey, Michigan and Delaware.
Duke’s storm staging areas in Central Florida will be at Ritchie Brothers Auctioneers at U.S. Highway 27 and Interstate 4, and at The Villages. The utility also has many operations centers, including at Lake Buena Vista, Longwood, Apopka, the Oviedo area and Conway, where crews, trucks and materials are kept.
“We learn from each hurricane and every season,” Gibbs said.
For outage reporting, visit duke-energy.com, download a Duke Energy app, text “out” to 57801, or call 800-228-8485.
Kissimmee Utility Authority, or KUA, recommends texting “out” to 877-582-7700 as the fastest way to report an outage. Based in Osceola County, KUA has brought in crews from Minnesota.
OUC faced a tremendous battle in the aftermath of Hurricane Charley in 2004.
“We have 100 line techs, 48 tree trimmers and 62 safety assessors,” Lynch said of personnel coming from Ohio, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana as backups to OUC’s regular crew for Hurricane Ian.
Those reinforcements were reporting to a temporary staging center being set up Tuesday at the Rosen Centre Hotel on International Drive.
The backup crew members arriving Wednesday will stay in hotel rooms and be provided laundry service and meals as part of their anticipated 16-hour shifts.
Another 400 crew members are scheduled to come in from North Carolina and Tennessee after the storm.
OUC will station its leadership at a command center that is part of a large operations campus on Pershing Avenue. Other personnel will be at the city’s emergency operations center.
Lynch urged customers to stay informed on outages or water problems by logging on at OUC.com/stormcenter or texting “REG” to 69682.
She also stressed that emergency generators should never be plugged into household circuits because of the risk of electrifying outside wires that line personnel are repairing.
kspear@orlandosentinel.com
