Complaint about post-Irma power restoration? Tell PSC
TALLAHASSEE — If you have a complaint about power restoration issues related to Hurricane Irma, the Florida Public Service Commission wants to hear it.
In a program that began Tuesday, utility customers can click on a link easily located on the PSC’s homepage, floridapsc.com, and submit their comments.
“We want to hear from customers about their power restoration time and how utility information was provided to them before, during and after the storm,” PSC Chairwoman Julie Brown said Tuesday. “Your comments will be extremely valuable as part of the commission’s review of utility hurricane preparedness and restoration actions.”
The comments will become public record and can be viewed by anyone. Before and after Irma made landfall in Florida on Sept. 10, the PSC received more than 1,500 phone calls about power outage and restoration issues.
Irma affected 4.45 million of Florida Power & Light’s 4.9 million customer accounts — representing about 10 million people — in all the 35 counties it serves across 27,000 square miles.
The other investor-owned electric utilities the PSC regulates, Duke Energy Florida, Gulf Power and TECO, also were hit hard by Irma. For example, 1.2 million of DEF’s 1.8 million customers lost power.
The PSC recently set its action plan to review utilities’ hurricane preparedness and restoration actions. The review will explore the potential to further minimize infrastructure damage that results in outages.
A generic docket was established to collect and analyze forensic data on the utilities’ transmission and distribution facilities to discern the type and cause of damage.
This extensive data collection and detailed analysis will include a workshop expected to be held next year on hurricane preparedness with input from all electric utilities and stakeholders, including comments submitted by customers.
Upon the conclusion of data collection and analysis, and consideration of public comment, the commission will weigh options for immediate action.