In less than five days since the extremely powerful and massive Category 4 Hurricane Ian made landfall in Southwest Florida and then cut across the state, Florida’s public power utilities have restored power to 98 percent of customers who experienced outages following the hurricane. More than 99 percent of the over 1.5 million Florida public power customers are receiving electricity.
“Florida public power utilities are working around the clock to restore power as safely and quickly as possible. Today, we are nearing full restoration and have gotten power back to most of the customers who can accept service. Given the extensive damage many of our electrical systems sustained and the extreme flooding conditions throughout the state, this is incredible progress,” said Amy Zubaly, FMEA Executive Director. “This week is Public Power Week and is a testament to the value of being part of public power’s nationwide network of support. More than 750 line resources from 125 utilities in 22 states have come to our aid to assist with power restoration following Hurricane Ian. Our deepest gratitude to all who answered the call for help.”
Mutual aid agreements enable electric utilities to call on each other for skilled emergency workers and supplies. Public power utilities across the country benefit from the strong network of mutual assistance partners through the American Public Power Association. These dependable connections have created a reliable system where member utilities both request and offer assistance when in need. FMEA is proud to serve as the mutual aid coordinator for Florida’s 33 public power utilities.
For more information on FMEA and Florida’s public power communities, please visit www.flpublicpower.com.
The Florida Municipal Electric Association (FMEA) represents the unified interests of 33 public power communities across the state, which provide electricity to more than 3 million of Florida’s residential and business consumers.
