Nearly 3.4 million still without power in Florida

Image via X (FPL).

The number of reported power outages continues to go up 15 hours after Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida.

The state’s Public Service Commission in a noon update said the number of customers without electricity in the state remains just under 3.4 million, nearly 19,000 more than reported at 9 a.m.

That’s despite Gov. Ron DeSantis at a Thursday morning press briefing saying some 635,000 people already had power restored. But even though the eye of Hurricane Milton by that point had left the state, tropical-storm-force winds continued to batter the Atlantic coast.

Hillsborough County remains the top county in the number of people without electricity. More than 529,000 customers there, more than 75% of all accounts in the county, were still out of power. That includes almost 528,000 Tampa Electric Company (TECO) customers and more than 1,200 Peace River Electric Cooperative (PREC) users. That’s an increase of about 7,000 people without power since the 9 a.m. report.

In Pinellas County, nearly 412,000 Duke Energy consumers remain in an outage, along with almost 7,800 TECO customers. In Sarasota County, where Milton made landfall, more than 216,000 Florida Power & Light (FPL) customers still have no electricity. In Manatee County, nearly 162,000 FPL users and 36,000 PREC customers need power back on.

Those four counties each have outages impacting more than 70% of consumers. A few less populous counties have a higher percentage of the population awaiting service.

In Highlands County, nearly 87% of customers remain without electricity, including more than 50,000 Duke Energy customers, almost 7,000 Glades Electric Cooperative users and fewer than 300 on the PREC network. In Hardee County, 98% await service, including 9,600 PREC customers and 2,700 on City of Wauchula power.

Other counties on both coasts still have massive numbers in the dark.

In Lee County, nearly 129,000 Lee County Electric Cooperative (LCEC) customers need electricity, along with 108,000 FPL users.

In Volusia County, more than 199,000 have no electricity, including 126,000 FPL customers, 44,000 on Duke Energy, almost 27,000 relying on New Smyrna Beach Utilities and about 2,000 on Clay Electric Cooperative. Neighboring Brevard County has almost 115,000 customers without service.

Collier County has almost 128,000 awaiting electricity, and populous Orange County has more than 152,000 people who can’t turn the lights on yet. Pasco County has almost 165,000.

Charlotte County has about 87,000 still in outage conditions, and Polk County has more than 201,000.

9 a.m.

Nearly 3.38 million Florida customers remain without power in the wake of Hurricane Milton.

A 9 a.m. update from the Florida Public Service Commission showed the number of people without electricity continues to go up faster than power is getting restored. The eye of Hurricane Milton just hours prior passed over Cape Canaveral but the storm continued to last the Atlantic Coast with hurricane-force winds as it went out to sea.

More than 521,000 remained without power in Hillsborough County, more than 74% of all customers there. The vast majority of those are Tampa Electric Company (TECO) users, excluding just over 1,200 Peace River Electric Cooperative (PREC) customers.

About 71% of all TECO customers are offline, including nearly 46,000 in Polk County, about 16,000 in Pasco and almost 8,000 in Pinellas.

But Florida Power & Light (FPL) reports the highest number of customers still in the dark, more than 1.2 million statewide. Duke Energy has more than 834,000 customers without electricity. About 471,000 without power rely on one of the state’s electric cooperatives, while 279,000 outages are on city utility networks.

More than 420,000 await power in Pinellas County, with more than 412,000 of those on Duke Energy.

In Sarasota County, some 227,000 need electricity, most of those FPL users. In Manatee County, almost 204,000 customers don’t have power, 166,000 of those FPL customers and the remaining 38,000 on Peace River Electric Cooperative (PREC).

More than 187,000 Volusia County customers need electricity, including 129,000 FPL customers. In Lee County, more than 128,000 Lee County Electric Cooperative (LCEC) users and almost 116,000 FPL customers need power. In Brevard County, more than 116,000 await electricity, chiefly from FPL.

Some less populous counties have a vast majority of customers in need. More than 98% of customers in Hardee County and over 86% of subscribers in Highlands County report outages. But in 52 of Florida 67 counties, at least some lost power because of the storm.

6.45 a.m.

Hurricane Milton left nearly 3.1 million people without power, as of 6:45 a.m.

The latest report from the Florida Public Service Commission showed more than 26% of all electric customers in Florida waking up in the dark. Customers in 52 of Florida’s 67 counties saw disruption from the storm.

Milton made landfall near Siesta Key as a Category 3 hurricane around 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday and remained a Category 1 storm when its eye crossed over Cape Canaveral around 5 a.m. Thursday.

More than 1.15 million Florida Power & Light (FPL) customers still had outages as of 6:45 a.m., as did more than 708,000 Duke Energy users. Nearly 594,000 Tampa Electric Company (TECO) subscribers, about 71% of the company’s customers, still had no power. The same goes for about 372,000 on various electric co-ops and nearly 265,000 on some city power.

Hillsborough County reports the greatest numbers of customers out of electricity. More than 527,000 TECO customers lost power, along with more than 1,200 on Peace River Electric Cooperative (PREC) and a handful of Duke users.

In Pinellas County, nearly 394,000 customers still need electricity, including more than 388,000 Duke Energy customers and almost 5,600 on TECO’s grid.

Sarasota County, where Milton made landfall, had almost 226,000 without power, all on FPL. Manatee County has more than 215,000 accounts out, about 177,000 of those on FPL and another 38,000 on PREC. The outages represent more than 82% of all Manatee customers and more than 75% of all power users in Sarasota.

Lee County also has roughly 215,000 without electricity, a number split almost evenly between FPL and Lee County Electric Cooperative (LCEC) customers.

Less populous Charlotte County has more than 92,000 customers who need power, primarily users with a few hundred LCEC in the dark as well. Further south, nearly 84,000 Collier County customers need service, including almost 70,000 FPL users and 14,000 LCEC customers.

On the Atlantic Coast, almost 144,000 Volusia County customers await power, including about 99,000 on FPL, more than 22,000 on Duke, another 22,000 on New Smyrna Beach Utilities and over 600 on Clay Electric Cooperative.

In Brevard County, the last Florida county to see the eye pass through, more than 86,000 customers were out of power at last count. Most are FPL users, along with less than 60 PREC accounts also impacted.

Inland Hardee County actually has the largest percentage of customers without power. Nearly 98% of all accounts there were out as of 6:45 a.m., more than 12,000 customers

9 p.m. Wednesday

Nearly 863 Florida customers were without power shortly after Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key.

A 9 p.m. update from the Florida Public Service Commission shows more than 7% of all Florida power customers in the dark as the Category 3 hurricane begins its move across the Florida peninsula.

That includes more than 434,000 Florida Power & Light (FPL) customers, almost 160,000 Duke Energy users, almost 104,000 Tampa Electric Company (TECO) subscribers, more than 143 on one of Florida’s electric co-op networks and more than 21,000 on city power.

More than 160,000 customers lost power in Sarasota County, where Milton made landfall around 8:30 p.m. The vast majority were FPL customers.

Nearly 61% of Manatee County customers, more than 159,000 accounts, were in the dark as of 9 p.m. That includes more than 127,000 FPL consumers and more than 46,000 Peace River Electric Cooperative users.

Across the Sunshine Skyway in Pinellas County, more than 111,000 lost power. Most of those users rely on Duke Energy, without 4,500 TECO customers also awaiting electricity. Nearly 95,000 have lost power in Hillsborough County, chiefly TECO users with about 1,200 PREC customers also impacted.

6 p.m. Wednesday

Nearly 119,000 power customers in Florida have already lost electricity, even before Hurricane Milton made landfall.

The Florida Public Service Commission at 6 p.m. reported more than 1% of all Florida power customers already face outage conditions. At least one customer has lost power in 41 of Florida’s 67 counties as a result of the storm, according to the report.

Florida Power & Light (FPL) customers make up 65,800 of those in the state without electricity. Duke Energy also reports more than 21,100 without power, and nearly 7,900 Tampa Electric Company (TECO) users are already impacted. Another nearly 18,500 impacted by the storm rely on one of the state’s electric co-ops and more than 5,600 are on some city power.

Those without power include more than 23,600 in St. Lucie County on the Atlantic Coast, where tornadoes have delivered extensive infrastructure damage. That means more than 12.5% of customers in the county are in the dark. More than 20,600 of those are FPL customers, with the rest on Fort Pierce Utilities.

Nearly 13,000 Indian River County customers have been impacted, nearly all of those FPL consumers.

Closer to the expected landfall for the storm, nearly 11,300 customers in Pinellas County face an outage. More than 11,000 of those subscribe to Duke, with the rest on TECO. In neighboring Hillsborough County, more than 7,400 customers, most of TECO’s network, have lost power.

To the south of Tampa Bay, where the latest forecasts show. Likely landfall, nearly 8,500 Manatee County customers have no electricity. Most of those are FPL customers.

More than 9,700 customers are in the dark in Lee County, including 4,100 on FPL and more than 5,600 on Lee County Electric Cooperative power.

In Palm Beach County, nearly 4,600 FPL customers have lost electricity, as have more than 4,000 FPL customers in Martin County.

North of Tampa, nearly 5,000 Pasco County customers lost power, including almost 4,000 Duke customers and the rest on TECO or city power.