TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Today, Governor Ron DeSantis highlighted the significant efforts to restore power to Floridians impacted by Hurricane Ian. To date, nearly 2.5 million accounts have been restored across the state, which represents 92% of accounts impacted by Hurricane Ian. This effort includes the complete rebuild of substations, power poles and transmission lines.
The state continues to provide significant resources to utility providers to ensure power can be restored as quickly as possible. This effort is supported by over 325 Florida Highway Patrol Officers helping to transport utility crews.
In response to the significant impact to Lee County, Governor DeSantis called on the Lee County Electric Cooperative (LCEC) to accept additional mutual aid from power companies from across the country to expedite restoration in the Southwest Florida community. Since heeding the Governor’s call, LCEC has accepted assistance from the Florida Electric Cooperatives Association, Duke Energy, Florida Power & Light, and additional crews from across the country to support restoration efforts in Southwest Florida, including transmission and substation rebuilds.
Since this time, over 60,000 additional Lee County LCEC accounts have been restored and LCEC has moved their restoration timeline for accounts that can receive power from October 23 to October 8 for accounts in impacted areas except Pine Island and Sanibel.
Following the completion of repairs to the Pine Island bridge, Duke Energy has deployed crews and assets to begin restoration work on Pine Island. Florida Power & Light has expanded its support to LCEC by providing resources to mitigate supply chain shortages, additional base camp resources for linemen, and engineers with expertise in restoring substations. An additional almost 1,500 linemen and restoration workers are on the ground in Lee County, representing both cooperatives, municipalities, and utility companies with more currently deploying to support Pine Island over the coming days.
The Florida National Guard has transported restoration crews into Pine and Sanibel islands to complete damage assessments and restoration planning. At the request of LCEC and Duke Energy, the state has secured four additional staging sites to support power crews throughout Southwest Florida. The Division of Emergency Management and the Florida National Guard have been directed to provide resources to support the planning and deployment of assets to support the restoration of power on Sanibel Island.
