Bay Hill Area Grid Improvements

Bay Hill Area Grid Improvements
Bay Hill Substation Optimization
About the Project
We’re upgrading our electric infrastructure in the Bay Hill area, including improvements in our Bay Hill substation. Work will begin in 2025 and continue through 2026, and will center around these primary work objectives:
- Strengthening the power grid to help avoid power outages: Upgrading power lines, poles and essential equipment
- Improving reliability and reducing outage time: Installing smart, self-healing technology that automatically detects power outages and quickly reroutes power to restore service faster
- Expanding capacity and preparing the area for sustainable growth: Completing substation improvements, new underground and overhead power lines to provide more capacity to the area
In-Progress Targeted Undergrounding Projects
Work begins in 2025 and will continue through 2026. As with any major infrastructure project, schedules may change due to weather, availability of resources and materials and other challenges. Electric utilities, like many other industries, are not immune to temporary supply chain challenges – especially around some of the components needed for undergrounding work. To help ensure needed inventories for outage restoration, major storm response and daily operational needs, we are delaying some proactive underground grid improvements until supplies return to more normal levels.While some underground work is temporarily delayed, we will continue to make other grid improvements that will benefit your community. Ongoing overhead improvements will support upcoming undergrounding projects, like the one planned for your neighborhood, and add increased capabilities to the grid that serve all customers. While the overhead improvements are in progress, we will continue moving forward with engineering design and field assessments of many of the undergrounding projects previously identified, including yours.
The advancements in grid improvement that we have implemented over the past three years have already shown positive results. For example, as Hurricane Ian made its way across Florida, self-healing technology automatically restored more than 160,000 customer outages and saved nearly 3.3 million hours of total lost outage time. This technology is being expanded throughout our service area to further enhance the grid’s resiliency.
To help ensure that we can keep you informed, please log in to your online Duke Energy account to confirm your contact information is correct, or call our Customer Care Center at 800.700.8744.
As work is scheduled, we will try to post major road closures or updates on this site. Please bookmark this page for easy access. If you have questions about this project, please contact Florida Grid Improvement at 800.438.4705 or GridImprovementFL@duke-energy.com.
Throughout 2025 to 2026, customers impacted by work should expect:
- Road closures during various phases
- Backlot access, as needed, to perform maintenance and upgrade overhead wires
- Possible weekend work
- Possible planned outages (customers will be notified in advance)
- Construction equipment and work crews in work areas around the community
These grid improvements are needed to connect the upgraded Bay Hill substation to new underground lines in the area, support ongoing commercial expansion, address potential reliability issues and improve service.
The intent of these projects is to help:- Support current and future growth and development in the area
- Improve overall reliability of service to customers
- Strengthen the grid against power outages from severe weather
- Provide smarter options to restore power faster using self-healing technologies
Learn more about grid-strengthening technologies
Duke Energy uses smart, self-healing technology to better serve customers when power outages occur.
Moving outage-prone lines underground can significantly reduce power outages and momentary service interruptions.
Contact Us
GridImprovementFL@duke-energy.com.