In 2025, Duke Energy Florida reported its lowest average outage duration per customer in over 20 years. The company stated that customers experienced an average of about 64 minutes without power, excluding outages from major events such as named storms. This reduction is largely attributed to ongoing grid hardening projects across the state.
Duke Energy Florida explained that grid hardening involves targeted infrastructure investments designed to ensure reliable service both during normal conditions and severe weather events. The company’s teams—including engineers, arborists, and construction workers—work throughout the year on projects to strengthen and improve system resilience.
Recent efforts have included upgrading wooden power poles to concrete or steel to better withstand high winds. About 60% of the transmission poles have been upgraded in the past five years, with a goal of completing this work by 2028. Additionally, where overhead lines are vulnerable or difficult to access, such as in backyards or areas prone to falling tree limbs, Duke Energy Florida has placed lines underground. Currently, roughly half of its distribution system is underground.
The company also uses smart, self-healing technology that can detect outages and automatically reroute power to restore service quickly—often in less than a minute—or prevent outages altogether. Approximately 82% of Duke Energy Florida’s more than two million customers benefit from this technology. In 2025 alone, it helped avoid about 280,000 extended outages for customers and saved millions of outage hours during the 2024 hurricane season: 3.3 million hours during Hurricane Milton, 1.8 million hours during Hurricane Helene, and 208,000 hours during Hurricane Debby.
“Thankfully, Mother Nature spared us last year, but living in Florida, we know it’s not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’ the next storm is coming,” said Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida state president. “This work is designed to significantly improve reliability and help keep the lights on for our customers when they need it most.”
Duke Energy Florida serves two million residential, commercial and industrial customers across a 13,000-square-mile area in Florida with an energy capacity of 12,300 megawatts. Its parent company Duke Energy operates electric utilities serving 8.4 million customers across six states and owns a total energy capacity of nearly 54,800 megawatts.
Duke Energy continues investing in grid upgrades and cleaner generation sources as part of its broader energy transition strategy.
More information can be found at duke-energy.com and through their official social media channels.
