[WATCH VIDEO] Duke Energy Is Changing The Way It Prepares For Storms

Atlantic hurricane season started June 1. As Duke Energy looks back on the devastating effects of prior hurricanes and forward to the possibility of even more severe weather, the company is improving the energy grid, making it stronger and more resilient to storms.

The goal is simple: to prevent outages whenever possible and respond faster than ever when they do occur.

This means making strategic, data-driven investments to improve the strength and capacity of hundreds of miles of power lines across the Carolinas. From upgrading utility poles and power lines in vulnerable areas to protecting critical infrastructure against damaging floods, Duke Energy is building an energy grid that can better withstand severe weather. And we’re using advanced data to pinpoint the most outage-prone power lines and move those lines underground, improving reliability for everyone connected to that line and freeing up resources to help all customers when a storm strikes.

The company is also adding digital technology to create a smart-thinking grid that can quickly identify potential problems and automatically reroute the power to avoid outages. In 2018, self-healing technologies prevented more than 350,000 extended outages and saved customers more than 1 million hours of outage time across the Carolinas. Smart-thinking grid investments will continue to expand these benefits, substantially improving the ability to anticipate problems on the grid and reduce the number and duration of outages across the state.

These improvements will also enable the grid to support more renewable energy sources so the company can add more clean energy to the grid.

Digital technology is also coming to customers’ homes in the form of smart meters. These meters give customers more information about their power use and more options to save energy and money. Following a storm or other major outage, smart meters can also provide improved outage detection and help speed the restoration process.

As severe weather becomes more frequent and severe, Duke Energy is working hard to stay ahead of the storm by preparing the grid to withstand extreme weather and keep service reliable in every season.

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