CHARLOTTE, N.C., June 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- June
1 marks the beginning of the Atlantic
hurricane season and serves as an important reminder to take steps
now to prepare for hurricanes and other severe weather to keep your
family safe and protect your property.
The 2021 Atlantic season runs through Nov. 30. Duke Energy meteorologists forecast 20
storms and nine hurricanes for 2021, and the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration forecasts 13 to 20 named storms and six
to 10 hurricanes.
Duke Energy works all year to prepare for hurricanes and other
severe storms and modernize its power delivery system. The
improvements increase reliability and resiliency, strengthen the
grid against severe weather and hurricanes, and provide for better
customer service.
"We've been making upgrades across our system to build a
stronger and smarter power grid to serve our customers," said
Scott Batson, senior vice president
and Duke Energy's chief distribution officer. "Our crews are ready
to respond when the next hurricane strikes. The improvements we
have made, and will continue to make, will provide real benefits to
customers and communities and help us restore power faster when
they count on us most."
In addition to trimming trees and inspecting and replacing wires
and wood poles, the company has invested in grid automation and
smart technologies to reduce the duration and number of outages and
restore service faster when outages do occur.
Duke Energy's smart-thinking grid automatically detects outages
and intelligently reroutes power to speed restoration or avoid
outages altogether.
Self-healing technology helped to avoid nearly 600,000 extended
customer outages in North
Carolina, South Carolina
and Florida in 2020, saving more
than 1 million hours of total outage time. Over the next few years,
Duke Energy expects to install enough self-healing technology to
serve most customers.
Ping-it technology
After a storm, Duke Energy crews must physically inspect miles
of power line to ensure everyone's power is restored. It's time
consuming, but Duke Energy crews can now use a technology called
Ping-it to remotely check that service has been restored following
repairs. Ping-it sends a signal to each meter in a few seconds to
confirm repairs were successful. This saves time and frees up crews
to help other customers. Duke Energy has installed more than 8.5
million smart meters, providing new technology to better serve
customers in six states.
Interview soundbites and b-roll video, as well as high
resolution photos of a smart meter installation, are posted in
the Multimedia Gallery in the Duke Energy News Center.
Please visit illumination for additional information on how
Duke Energy is preparing for hurricane season.
Important safety steps
Duke Energy has made changes to the way it responds to major
storms to promote the safety of crews and communities during
COVID-19. Many of those process modifications and improvements will
continue during the 2021 storm season. For more information, please
see dukeenergyupdates.com.
The safety of our customers and communities is important. Duke
Energy encourages customers to have a plan in place to respond to
an extended power outage after a hurricane or other severe weather.
Below are some tips:
Before the storm
- Create (or update) an emergency supply kit to save valuable
time later. The kit should include everything an individual or
family would need for at least two weeks, especially medicines,
water, non-perishable foods and other supplies that might be hard
to find after a storm hits. Although the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) has relaxed some of its guidance for
vaccinated individuals, an emergency kit should still include items
that can help protect you and others from COVID-19, such as hand
sanitizer, bar or liquid soap, and face coverings aligned with CDC
guidance.
- Keep a portable radio or TV or a NOAA weather radio on hand to
monitor weather forecasts and important information from state and
local officials.
- Charge cellphones, computers and other electronic devices in
advance of storms to stay connected to important safety and
response information. Consider purchasing portable chargers and
make sure they are fully charged as well.
- Maintain a plan to move family members – especially those with
special needs – to a safe, alternative location in case an extended
power outage occurs or evacuation is required.
- Review insurance policies and include extra copies of the
policies and other important documents in your emergency supply kit
(ideally in a waterproof container).
- Pet owners should arrange to stay at evacuation shelters that
accept pets, friends' or family members' homes, or pet-friendly
hotels.
After the storm
- Stay away from power lines that have fallen or are sagging.
Consider all lines energized, as well as trees, limbs or anything
in contact with lines.
- If a power line falls across a car that you are in, stay in the
car. If you MUST get out of the car due to a fire or other
immediate life-threatening situation, do your best to jump clear of
the car and land on both feet. Be sure that no part of your body is
touching the car when your feet touch the ground.
- If you need to go to a disaster shelter, follow CDC
recommendations for staying safe and healthy in a public
disaster shelter during the COVID-19 pandemic.
For more tips on how to prepare for storm season, and how Duke
Energy can help, please visit duke-energy.com/StormTips. For
storm or power restoration updates, follow Duke Energy on Twitter
(@DukeEnergy) and Facebook (Duke Energy). A checklist serves as a
helpful guide, but it's critical before, during and after a storm
to follow the instructions and warnings of emergency management
officials in your area.
Outage reporting
While residents of coastal areas, including Florida and the Carolinas, are at most risk of
being affected by hurricanes, such storms also can bring damaging
high winds and rain inland.
Before the storm hits, customers should contact us to make sure
their contact information is up to date and their communication
preferences are noted, so they receive proactive outreach on the
status of a power outage they may experience. Customers who
experience an outage during a storm can report it the following
ways:
- Visit duke-energy.com on a desktop computer or mobile
device.
- Use the Duke Energy mobile app – Download the Duke Energy App
from a smartphone via Apple Store or Google Play.
- Text OUT to 57801 (standard text and data charges may
apply).
- Call the automated outage-reporting system for your
utility:
-
- Duke Energy Carolinas: 800.769.3766
- Duke Energy Progress: 800.419.6356
- Duke Energy Florida: 800.228.8485
- Duke Energy Ohio/Kentucky: 800.543.5599
- Duke Energy Indiana: 800.343.3525
Customer service specialists will be available to manage
customer calls should the need arise, with more than 1,500
additional corporate responders from across all Duke Energy
jurisdictions available to assist as needed.
Duke Energy
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in
Charlotte, N.C., is one of
America's largest energy holding companies. Its electric utilities
serve 7.9 million customers in North
Carolina, South Carolina,
Florida, Indiana, Ohio
and Kentucky, and collectively own
51,000 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas unit serves
1.6 million customers in North
Carolina, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. The company employs 27,500
people.
Duke Energy is executing an aggressive clean energy strategy to
create a smarter energy future for its customers and communities –
with goals of at least a 50 percent carbon reduction by 2030 and
net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The company is a top U.S.
renewable energy provider, on track to operate or purchase 16,000
megawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2025. The company also is
investing in major electric grid upgrades and expanded battery
storage, and exploring zero-emitting power generation technologies
such as hydrogen and advanced nuclear.
Duke Energy was named to Fortune's 2021 "World's Most Admired
Companies" list and Forbes' "America's Best Employers" list. More
information about the company is available at duke-energy.com.
The Duke Energy News Center contains news releases, fact
sheets, photos, videos and other materials. Duke Energy's
illumination features stories about people, innovations,
community topics and environmental issues. Follow Duke Energy on
Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.
Media contact: Allison Barker
Media line: 800.559.3853
Twitter: @DE_AllisonB
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SOURCE Duke Energy