Employees and contractors with Oncor are starting work today in Florida to help restore power to neighborhoods where it was knocked out by Hurricane Ian. At one point, about 2.5 million customers were without service.
"Restoration work has already begun by the local utilities, and we've been in communication with them as they figure out where their highest needs are and our crews can be of the best use," said Kerri Dunn with Oncor. "Once we get started, we'll be working around the clock doing everything we can to restore power to Florida families and businesses."
The extent of the damage in Florida means the crews from Oncor could be in the state for quite some time.
"This is a hugely significant event. There are many, many families and communities that don't have power, and unfortunately that damage is very extensive," Dunn said, "so it's going to take a lot of work to get those lights back on. You don't just have damaged roads or knocked-down lines. You've got roads that are totally swept away. We have bridges that have been destroyed by the rising storm surge. We have electric infrastructure that's been damaged beyond repair. There's going to be a lot of re-building."
Companies in Texas have mutual-assistance agreements with utility companies in Florida, so that each state will help the other after a major weather event.
"We have these partnerships with utilities across the country, and that way we're easily able to deploy hundreds of personnel across the country," Dunn said, "We actually just welcomed mutual-assistance support during Labor Day weekend when we had storms in the DFW area. We appreciate the opportunity to thank them and send our crews out in return. When we're in Florida, we treat those customers like they're our own."
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