Duke Energy has updated its estimate of when power will be restored to Pinellas and Pasco counties. Company is suspending some charges during Florida storm restoration.

PINELLAS/PASCO COUNTIES – For a week, Duke Energy has guaranteed it would have power restored in the western portion of its service area by midnight Friday (Sept. 15).

But late Friday, Duke had revised that, saying it will have power restored to those areas by the end of today (Sept. 16).

In a press release, the company said it 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 today (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 Hernando County.

After that, Duke said it would continue to work on isolated and scattered outages until all customers are restored.

In other news, Duke also announced that it is suspending late payment charges and estimated bills for its 1.8 million Florida customers as it continues to restore power in the state.

“We are all-hands-on-deck with restoration, and stopping these actions gives customers one less thing to worry about. It allows Duke Energy to focus on what’s important – getting the lights on and helping rebuild communities and lives,” Sideris said.

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

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