Drew Dixon
Tampa Electric has chalked up a national award for its communications operations during power outages caused by hurricanes in 2024.
Chartwell nominated Tampa Electric for the 2025 Outage Best Practice Award in Communications, which recognizes utility performance and service initiatives for customers. Tampa Electric was particularly singled out for its communications operations during Hurricane Debby, which skirted the Gulf Coast in August, Hurricane Helene, which hit the Gulf Coast Sept. 26, and Hurricane Milton, which made landfall by Sarasota Oct. 9.
The award acknowledges that Tampa Electric improved outage communication practices in 2024 in anticipation of hurricane season, “resulting in high customer satisfaction, improved staff experience, and increased capacity to meet emergency communication needs.”
One of the key elements contributing to the award was Tampa Electric’s improvements in communications during power outages. That included updated and upgraded outage maps to help utility services remain online during the storms and streamlining communication processes. Artificial Intelligence (AI) was also employed to follow social media and provide quick responses by utilities teams who could more easily respond to customer concerns and questions. That improved response times.
“By employing innovative, proactive and customer-focused approaches, Tampa Electric effectively managed outage communications in the most destructive hurricane season in company history, which included Hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton. In a post-Milton survey, 78% of responding customers were satisfied with Tampa Electric’s outage communications,” a press release said.
Chartwell Inc. is a utility consulting firm that provides strategies and solutions for power companies across America. The awards are offered in gold, silver, and bronze rankings. Tampa Electric’s communications award is a bronze recognition. Chartwell also offers awards for best practices by utilities in excellence in outage performance and emergency management categories. Recipients of the awards have to first enter the competition before they can be judged.
Tampa Electric will officially receive the award at Chartwell’s “PowerUp” outage conference, which will be held in Dallas, Texas, in October. The utility serves about 860,000 customers in Florida’s Central Gulf Coast region.
