Fewer than 3,000 still without power in Big Bend after Hurricane Helene
Image via Facebook (TCEC).

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TCEC officials hope to bring nearly all customers back online by Sunday.

Fewer than 3,000 Florida electric customers remain without power just over a week after Hurricane Helene made landfall.

A 6 a.m. update from the Public Service Commission shows individuals in four counties still await power restoration.

More than half those still in outage conditions live in Taylor County, where 1,500 remain without power. Those people represent 18.94% of Tri-County Electric Cooperative (TCEC) Customers in Taylor County, where Helene made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane late on Sept. 26.

Another 1,300 TCEC customers are without power in neighboring Madison County, 17.11% of customers there. The utility also has 125 customers in Dixie County and 46 in Lafayette County who still need electricity.

Every other power provider in the state has fully restored power at this point.

TCEC issued an update late Thursday on its progress, and stressed work has moved faster than expected. It also released a timeline for some hard-hit coastal areas in Scanlon and Steinhatchee for the first time.

“Service has been fully restored to all meters that can safely receive electricity off of our Boyd and Monticello substations,” the update reads.

“The Sonnie, Aucilla, and Eridu substations are all on schedule for 100% restoration by tomorrow (Friday). Meters served by the Madison substation are on track to be 100% restored by Saturday.

The remaining substations are on schedule for the estimated restoration days shown on the map. “The estimated restoration time for meters served off of our Scanlon substation is Saturday 10/5 and Steinhatchee substation is Sunday 10/6.”

Immediately after the storm, more than a million people lost power statewide.

Yesterday marked a large step forward, with several electric co-ops bringing all remaining customers back online.

President Joe Biden and House Speaker Mike Johnson both toured Florida areas hit by the storm on Thursday. This marks the eighth day without power for many residents.

Image via TCEC.

Jacob Ogles

Jacob Ogles has covered politics in Florida since 2000 for regional outlets including SRQ Magazine in Sarasota, The News-Press in Fort Myers and The Daily Commercial in Leesburg. His work has appeared nationally in The Advocate, Wired and other publications. Events like SRQ’s Where The Votes Are workshops made Ogles one of Southwest Florida’s most respected political analysts, and outlets like WWSB ABC 7 and WSRQ Sarasota have featured his insights. He can be reached at [email protected].


3 comments

  • Phil Morton

    October 4, 2024 at 9:14 am

    Cool! You may want to mention Pinellas county when talking about outages though.

  • Billy Rotberg

    October 4, 2024 at 11:23 am

    That was quick!

  • yew oweme

    October 4, 2024 at 1:34 pm

    BILLY BOY, when there is money involved, gop moves fast. you can’t bill the customer if his lines are still down. if you are insinuating that the speed of recovery is a desantis thing, think again, lots of things get done better right before an election by the incumbents. desantis’ florida gang are masters at misdirection.

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