How Duke Energy is preparing for another active hurricane season

Storms may be unpredictable – but our response isn’t. With stronger equipment, smarter tools and dedicated teams, we’re ready for whatever this season brings.

Atlantic hurricane season is here, and Duke Energy is ready.

We work year-round to ensure the grid – and our communities – can withstand storm impacts. From grid improvements to self-healing technology, comprehensive vegetation management and innovative tools that aid storm response, Duke Energy is using smarter tools and stronger equipment to keep the lights on and restore power faster when outages occur.

We are also adapting our system to become more resilient by analyzing the impact of future climate risks and strengthening the grid accordingly. These adaptations are important since things like power lines, substations and transformers deliver electricity to customers.

Discover how we’re working to get ahead of the next storm – and recover faster when one hits.

Ongoing improvements help strengthen the grid against outages from severe weather. Here, a flood-prone substation is protected by a barrier wall, so the people it serves are less likely to experience an outage.

Preventing outages before they happen

Storm preparation starts long before severe weather strikes.

Duke Energy is modernizing equipment and installing stronger poles and wires across Florida, the Carolinas and Midwest. We maintain more than 300,000 miles of power lines, three-quarters of which are in states that regularly experience hurricanes. Upgrading these lines can help them better withstand high winds and protect vital equipment essential to restoring power after the storm has passed.

Part of this work involves replacing wooden poles along the transmission system in certain areas. In regions prone to persistent high winds, wood is substituted with stronger steel or concrete. These upgrades are also implemented in hard-to-reach areas, as it may take longer for crews to access them if a pole requires repairs or replacement.

When Duke Energy opts to bury a power line for reliability reasons, the decision is based on high-resolution data that assesses performance down to individual spans of power lines between two poles.

We’re using data to identify outage-prone lines or line segments that can be placed underground to reduce the frequency of outages in those locations. In other cases, undergrounding is built into the project design. In Pinellas County, Fla., we’re upgrading an 11.5-mile transmission corridor. While much of the line remains overhead, key segments are being placed underground to reduce the risk of outages during storms.

Trees are a leading cause of outages, so Duke Energy trims trees and clears vegetation along its rights of way and 300,000-plus miles of power lines – a critical step in reducing storm-related outages.

Substations are essential parts of the power system that provide service to many customers, so measures are being implemented to improve their physical security and monitoring. For example, we’ve constructed permanent barriers and relocated equipment at several substations in the Carolinas that are susceptible to flooding. This work most recently includes flood improvements currently underway at three western North Carolina substations impacted by Hurricane Helene.

Recovering faster when outages occur

Despite our best efforts, severe weather can still cause outages. That’s where grid resiliency – our ability to reroute power and bounce back quickly – comes in.

A power grid improvement project on the Village of Bald Head Island, N.C., strengthened Duke Energy’s system against storm impacts and allowed for isolation of outages and remote automatic repairs.

We’re updating emergency response plans and expanding our network of smart devices and self-healing technology. Self-healing technology automatically detects power outages and reroutes power to other power lines to restore service faster for customers – often in less than a minute. Crews may still have to make physical repairs, but self-healing systems can reduce customer impacts by as much as 75%.

In 2024, self-healing technology helped avoid nearly 2.4 million customer outages across Duke Energy’s six-state service area, saving more than 11 million hours of total outage time. More than 75% of those benefits were achieved during major storms. And more than 60% of Duke Energy customers are now served by these automated restoration capabilities – a nearly 70% increase since 2023.

Inside the storm command center

Our meteorologists monitor weather 24/7 and play a key role in planning. When hurricanes and major storms are in the forecast, Duke Energy will pre-position crews, equipment and supplies near expected impact zones, so we’re ready to restore power as soon as it’s safe.

After major storms, Duke Energy’s aviation teams use drones and helicopters to analyze damage across hundreds of miles each day – far faster and safer than ground assessments alone. These “eyes in the sky” provide critical data to help damage assessors and ground crews plan their response.

Strengthening communities, not just the grid

Storm preparation is a team effort. Duke Energy works closely with state and local emergency management agencies, nonprofit partners and local organizations to coordinate response plans, share resources and improve community resilience.

This work is strengthened by Duke Energy Foundation, which awarded $1.5 million in grants in 2025 to fund emergency operations centers and shelters, and equip first responders with training, lifesaving equipment such as drones. The funds build on the Foundation’s long-standing commitment to strengthen and uplift communities across North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee – with more than $8 million in emergency preparedness grants awarded since 2020.

We’re ready. Are you?

Just as we prepare, we encourage customers to do the same. Visit duke-energy.com/StormSafety to learn how to build an emergency kit, report outages and find answers to frequently asked questions.

The American Red Cross Emergency app offers checklists and maps of open shelters and enables users to set real-time weather alerts for multiple locations. The app is free and available in both English and Spanish.