TAMPA ELECTRIC WILL RESTORE ESSENTIALLY ALL POWER BY SUNDAY NIGHT
The following release was sent to us by TECO:
Tampa, Fla. (Sept. 12, 2017) – Tampa Electric is working around the clock – and is bringing in reinforcements – to restore power for the thousands of customers affected by Hurricane Irma.
Tampa Electric expects to restore power to essentially all customers by Sunday night. Tampa Electric plans to provide more geographically-specific restoration times as soon as we can. Some customers with more complex damage may take longer to restore.
In total, 425,000 of our 730,000 customers were impacted by the storm. At the peak of the storm. 335,000 customers remained without power. Power has already been restored to 145,000 customers, or about 30 percent of those affected.
“We are making significant progress around the clock to restore power – and that will continue until all customers have electricity,” said Gordon Gillette, president and chief executive officer of Tampa Electric. “We know that customers are trying to get life back to normal, and having electricity is a key part of that. Thank you for your patience as we rebuild our system.”
Due to the magnitude of the storm and the significant rebuilding required, restoration will require more than 140,000 man-hours of work.
About 3,200 line, tree and other workers, from other utilities from as far away as the Midwest, Northeast and Canada, continue to arrive today to assist Tampa Electric, as part of the largest restoration effort in U.S. history.
Customer Service has 24-hour coverage – and extra staff on hand – to take emergency and outage-related calls. The company also has assistance from other utilities to take weather-related calls, if needed. For customers with non-storm-related calls, please consider calling later in the week.
Tampa Electric offers customers several ways to report power outages:
The fastest, easiest way to report an outage is to visit tecoaccount.com/outage.
Also, enroll in Power Updates from tecoaccount.com to text outage reports or get service updates via text, phone or email.
Update the phone number and email associated with your account at www.tecoaccount.com/yourprofile. This helps when you report an outage.
Residential and commercial customers may call Tampa Electric’s dedicated toll-free automated power outage phone system at 1-877-588-1010 to report a power outage or electric emergency.
Customers can monitor and track outages in their neighborhoods through the outage map at tampaelectric.com/outagemap. The map displays the cause, status and estimated restoration time. Tampa Electric also will use Twitter @tampaelectric to keep customers informed about outage restoration.
Tampa Electric would like to remind customers to be safe after a storm:
Remember to keep away from downed power lines and urge others to be extremely cautious.
Remember to use portable generators safely. Plug your appliances directly into the generator. DO NOT connect your portable generator into your home’s circuits. Connecting your generator to the circuits may cause power to flow to outside lines, posing life-threatening danger to restoration crews.
Portable generators must not be taken into homes or any enclosed space (like a garage) where deadly carbon monoxide gases could build up.
Stay out of floodwaters, as they can hide energized power lines or put you at risk of drowning.
Tampa Electric, one of Florida’s largest investor-owned electric utilities, serves about 730,000 customers in West Central Florida. Tampa Electric is a subsidiary of Emera Inc., a geographically diverse energy and services company headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
