City was speedy on power restoration post-Hermine, report says

Getting the juice back on after Hurricane Hermine was about the same or faster than similar “power restoration efforts” after storms.

That’s the conclusion of a report released this week by the Florida Municipal Electric Association (FMEA) on Tallahassee’s response to this month’s Category 1 storm.

The FMEA’s survey shows “another Category 1 storm, Hurricane Irene, struck across multiple states in 2011 and the power restoration for Irene took a little longer than efforts for post-Hermine.”

Hermine, a Category 1 hurricane at landfall, knocked out electric service overnight on Sept. 1 and 2 to hundreds of thousands across North Florida, including nearly 68,000 customers in Tallahassee alone.

Within five days, however, 90 percent of customers had their power turned back on, the city has said.

Still, city officials were criticized as neighborhoods and businesses went days without power after the storm, while the city held off on accepting offers of help from other utilities.

That sparked the creation of a blue-ribbon panel by Citizens for Responsible Spending, a gadfly group often critical of city government, to look into how Florida communities can better bounce back after a big storm.

The city and Leon County also are holding their own community meetings to gather feedback on storm preparedness and recovery. The next one is 6 p.m. tonight (Thursday), at Eastside Branch Library, 1583 Pedrick Road.

Moreover, state Sen. Jack Latvala, the Clearwater Republican slated to chair the Appropriations Committee next legislative session, has suggested he may convene hearings on whether community-based power operations — such as City of Tallahassee Utilities — are positioned as well as they could be to recover after major storms.

“Various factors impact the timing of power restoration following a severe storm,” the FMEA report says. “For example, the Big Bend area of Florida is thick with live oak trees that hover over power lines creating the potential for additional issues versus an area predominantly with palm trees, like South Florida.

“Another factor is the population area impacted by a storm,” it adds. “Hurricane Hermine hit in a major population center and received a direct strike versus a storm that may hit an area where the population is not as concentrated.”