More than 19,000 still face power outages in Florida, mostly in Big Bend region

Image via Facebook (Tri-County Electric Cooperative).

Tri-County Electric Cooperative reports it has restored power to more than 9,200 customers. Thousands remain without power, primarily in the Scanlon and Steinhatchee areas.

A noon update from the Public Service Commission shows TCEC customers in the Big Bend represent a bulk of some 19,404 still awaiting service restoration. That includes 4,300 Taylor County customers and 3,400 in Madison County. Another 749 customers in Jefferson County, 135 in Dixie County and 46 in Lafayette County still have no power.

“As of Tuesday evening, we have restored power to 9,217 meters across our service territory,” reads a statement from TCEC. “All meters that can safely receive electricity off of the St. Augustine and Lloyd Substations have been restored. Restoration for both substations was completed earlier than their estimated Wednesday and Thursday restoration times.”

TCEC officials in most areas are seeking 100% restoration by Friday, and have been bringing lights back on ahead of schedule. Officials said 75% of customers relying on substations in Cherry Lake, Greenville, Madison and Perry will be restored by the end of the week. Scanlon and Steinhatchee damage is still being assessed after Helene made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in the region.

About 30.74% of Taylor County customers still don’t have power and 29.45% of Madison County customers are in the same boat. Dixie County has 21.12% without power restored.

The only other county with more than 10% of customers out electricity is Hamilton County, where 1,200 customers Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative await restoration. That represents 16.85% of customers in the county.

Clay Electric Cooperative also has 3,161 customers out in Columbia County and a couple in Suwannee County.

The Central Florida Electric Cooperative has 2,100 Dixie County customers in the dark, as well as 1,400 in Levy County, 1,000 in Gilchrist County and 76 in Alachua County.

Gainesville Regional Utilities has 235 Alachua County customers awaiting electricity restoration.

Earlier today

Nearly 21,000 Floridians are still without power six days after Hurricane Helene impacted the state. At this point, outages persist almost entirely in the Big Bend region where the storm made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane.

In Madison County, 35.52% percent of customers await power restoration, according to the Florida Public Service Commission’s 6 a.m. update. That represents about 4,100 people still living without electricity.

All of those still in the dark in Madison County are Tri-County Electric Cooperative customers, and that network of users remains the most severely impacted by the storm as of early Wednesday. An additional 4,300 Tri-County customers are still reporting outages in Taylor County, where the hurricane made landfall last Thursday evening. That’s about 30.74% of customers in the county.

Additionally, some 750 Tri-County Electric customers in Jefferson County, 144 customers in Dixie County and 46 in Lafayette County still have no power.

The utility still is not providing a hard timeline on restoration for most customers.

All Duke Energy, Florida Power & Light Company and Tampa Electric customers have had power completely restored. As recently as Tuesday, Duke had more outages reported than any other power provider. But that was in more densely populated areas like Pinellas County, which had the highest reported number of outages all week but now has lights back on in every part of the county.

Duke Energy officials said they still have lineman in other hard-hit areas helping restore service.

“All of our customers — every single one — matter to us, regardless of where they’re at in the state,” said Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida state President. “We thank our customers for their continued patience and remind them that we will not stop until we get the lights back on for everyone who is capable of receiving power.”

Clay Electric Cooperative still has thousands without power. That includes nearly 3,200 awaiting service in Columbia County, about 8.79% of total customers there.

Central Florida Electric Cooperative has a significant number of customers in four counties still impacted. The bulk of those are in Dixie County, where 2,200 still have no electricity. Combined with Tri-County customers there, 22.15% of county residents still have blackout conditions.

There are also 1,500 Levy County customers on Central Florida Electric who still need service, or 5.49% of county residents. The provider also has 1,000 without power in Gilchrist County, 9.71% of customers in the county, as well as 76 users in Alachua County.

Another 488 customers in Alachua County on Gainesville Regional Utilities still have no power. But at this point, only 0.48% of GRU customers in the county need power.