ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Duke Energy has been preparing for hurricane season and any major storms that could come towards Florida in 2023. 

When power is knocked out to an area following a major storm, line workers prioritize restoring hospitals, police stations and essential areas before moving onto major transmission lines and heavily populated neighborhoods.

Areas with the fewest customers or people impacted, or areas with extensive damage, will typically be brought back online last. 

Lineman Jeff Kraus says while responding to hurricanes means long days and high stress situations, he enjoys being able to remedy a problem and restore power. 

“For me personally, it’s satisfaction to be able to help those people. The way I look at it is if it was my family, I’d want to help them,” he said. 

When an outage is detected at Duke Energy's control center, a team of dispatchers can see where the issue is electronically in real time. From there, sometimes they can fix the problem remotely while other situations require a crew to come out. 

In order to be prepared for the risks of live wires and climbing poles, Duke Energy has a 5-year apprentice program to make sure their line technicians are ready for any situation. 

Each year, they hire between 40-100 apprentices to fill previously vacated spots. The line workers are spread out among three connotations that include transmission, distribution and service. 

All line workers are trained to respond to major outages in events such as high winds, ice and summer and winter storms, according to Duke Energy.