Duke Energy Florida has completed the construction of its Ulmerton Storm Staging Site in Pinellas County. The new facility is designed to serve as a secure base for storm response resources, including equipment, trucks, and lineworkers, during hurricane events. Previously, the company relied on temporary spaces at local businesses and organizations that were not always available after storms.
The Ulmerton site is Duke Energy Florida’s first dedicated facility of its kind in the county. It will allow the company to maintain a long-term presence for restoration work following hurricanes. Resources stationed at this location can be deployed quickly once conditions are safe, which is expected to speed up power restoration for customers in St. Petersburg, Clearwater, and surrounding areas.
Melissa Seixas, president of Duke Energy Florida, stated: “Our customers in St Petersburg and Clearwater can be reassured that we are working as quickly as possible to restore power in the event of a hurricane in our area. Dedicated storm staging sites, like our newest one at Ulmerton, will allow us to host critical resources close by so we can quickly turn lights back on for our customers.”
Todd Fountain, general manager of emergency preparedness at Duke Energy Florida, added: “From the Ulmerton Storm Staging Site, we’ll be able to get right into all areas of Pinellas County. Having our staging site centrally located helps us get to critical areas faster. We learned during past storms the importance of getting resources here prior to the storm making landfall. So, we’ll house teams in a safe place, just outside the path of the storm, and keep about 300 vehicles at the staging site so we’re ready to go as soon as it’s safe.”
Duke Energy Florida supplies electricity to approximately 2 million customers across a 13,000-square-mile service area and owns 12,300 megawatts of energy capacity.
Its parent company, Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), is based in Charlotte, North Carolina and serves 8.4 million electric utility customers across six states with a total energy capacity of 54,800 megawatts. The company also provides natural gas services to 1.7 million customers across five states.
Duke Energy continues investing in grid upgrades and cleaner energy sources such as renewables and energy storage while maintaining reliability for its customers.
More information about Duke Energy can be found at duke-energy.com and through its social media channels.
