FMEA Assists with Resources Necessary to Restore Power to
Public Power Customers Affected by Severe Storms in Florida
As severe thunderstorms brought high winds, hail and significant rainfall to parts of Florida Saturday and Sunday, the Florida Municipal Electric Association (FMEA) assembled mutual aid crews from across the state to assist with power restoration in impacted areas.
Hardest hit was the City of Tallahassee, which experienced a peak outage of 30,000 municipal electric utility customers. Crews and service trucks from public power partners Kissimmee Utility Authority (KUA), Ocala Electric Utility, Beaches Energy Services (Jacksonville Beach) and JEA were immediately sent to Tallahassee to assist with power restoration efforts. As of 1 p.m. today, approximately 6,300 City of Tallahassee electric utility consumers remain without power and power restoration efforts continue.
Other Florida municipal electric utilities affected by the weekend’s severe weather include:
- Ocala Electric Utility
- Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU)
- City of Leesburg
- City of New Smyrna Beach
- Town of Havana
- Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC)
- JEA
- Lakeland Electric
- City of Starke
- Keys Energy Services
- City of Blountstown
- City of Lake Worth
Overall, approximately 50,600 municipal electric utility customers experienced a power outage at some point over the weekend. All have been restored with the exception of the remaining 6,300 City of Tallahassee electric utility customers (as of 1 p.m. on Monday, January 23).
As crews continue to quickly and safely restore power, it is important for residents to remember that there is still danger even after a storm has moved out of the area. Downed power lines and trees pose the most significant threats. The FMEA reminds residents of these important safety precautions:
- Never, ever touch a downed power line or go near one. Always assume the power line is live.
- Do not touch anything or anyone in contact with a fallen power line or other equipment.
- If a power line falls on your car, stay inside the vehicle and call for help.
- Do not pull tree limbs off power lines. Leave those for utility crews to safely handle.
- Avoid areas with debris and downed trees. There could be live power lines hidden inside.
- Also avoid chain link fences and puddles that could have become electrified by downed power lines.
During emergency situations, members of FMEA partner through a Mutual Aid Agreement that enables member utilities to call on each other for emergency workers and supplies. Florida’s public power utilities benefit from this strong network of partners within Florida and across the country through the American Public Power Association. These dependable connections have created a reliable system where member utilities both request and offer assistance.
The Florida Municipal Electric Association (FMEA) represents the unified interests of 34 public power communities across the state, which provide electricity to more than 3 million of Florida’s residential and business consumers.
