Underground Power Lines: Tampa Electric’s New Initiative

Whether you’ve lived in the Tampa Bay area your whole life or recently settled here, you know that one of the most frustrating parts of hurricane season is when the power goes out.

As we approach the most intense part of hurricane season, there’s promising news for Tampa residents. Tampa Electric (TECO) is actively relocating power lines underground as part of its Storm Protection Plan.

How will this help?

Placing power lines underground protects them from high winds, falling palm trees, and flying debris, which significantly reduces the likelihood of power outages during storms. Additionally, underground lines can be preemptively shut down to prevent flooding and saltwater damage during high tides and storm surges, enabling quicker restoration of power after storms.

Beyond keeping the lights on during disasters, removing overhead power lines and poles creates more space for planting trees. This initiative supports the city’s ambition to plant 30,000 trees by 2030 to rejuvenate our cherished tree canopy.

Where is TECO in the process?

Currently, about 50% of TECO’s power lines are already underground, particularly in newly constructed areas. The company aims to move 75 to 100 overhead lines underground annually.

While we have you here, here are some tips for this hurricane season:

• TECO provides resources like an outage map, outage notifications, and information on how to report an outage.
• Duke Energy customers can also access an outage map and additional resources online.
• The second Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday of the year is approaching. Mark your calendars for Aug. 24 to Sept. 6 to grab any last-minute essentials like batteries, flashlights, and other supplies.
• Now is an excellent time to double-check your hurricane kit and ensure all items are easily accessible to avoid scrambling when a storm hits.
• Sign up for Alert Tampa or Alert Pinellas for timely storm updates and notifications.

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