Out-of-town utility crews work long hours for days restoring power in Tampa Bay

We’ve all seen the lines of utility trucks on our highways, on our streets and in our community.

“Our guys are used to traveling to respond to any kind of natural disaster, so we can help customers get started back on their day-to-day life,” said Quinn Allen, Power Grid Operations Distributions Supervisor for Duke Energy.

Although so many of them don’t live in our community, they still leave their families to come help ours.

“We’re happy to be here, happy to help,” said Allen.

They’re helping to turn the lights back on after back-to-back hurricanes left many people in the dark.

“It’s just a life of service. When you choose to be a lineman for a utility like Duke Energy, you’re here to serve the community,” said Allen.

He's a part of a crew from South Carolina that’s been working non-stop in Pinellas County for days.

That's after they've already helped with restoration efforts in North Carolina from Hurricane Helene.

“After spending 12 days in Spartanburg, you know, Hurricane Milton was coming in. So we decided after restocking and refueling and getting everybody reloaded, we’d head down to Milton and try to help with our Duke Energy neighbors down here in Florida starting with the restoration process,” said Allen.

It’s a process that takes time.

“There’s somebody working around the clock. We always say that power never sleeps, and we always have somebody working,” said Allen.

Early mornings and late nights—it’s hard work restoring a community.

“Most of the time, the guys are on their hooks climbing poles in the backyards. They’re very hard to access due to fences and people’s property, so sometimes restoration can be kind of time-consuming,” said Allen.

But every minute, every hour, every climb is worth it.

“One of the best feelings in the world is when you’re closing that switch, and you get those meters turning, and you hear those cheers coming from the customers. That’s what it’s all about, knowing that we had just a little hand in helping them get their lights back, heading in the right direction after an event like this,” said Allen.

These crews never know how long they’ll have to stay, but they’ll know when it’s time to go.

“It just takes as long as it takes to get the lights back on until we can get that last meter turning. We’re here to help,” said Allen.

Leaving our community brighter than how they found it.

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