We’re dedicated to enhancing our reliability, resiliency and security.

Our highest priority and responsibility is providing safe and reliable electricity to our customers every day. To continue delivering 99.98 percent service reliability to our growing region, we work year round to strengthen our system against extreme weather and other risks. Since 2021, we invested in system improvements that:

• Increased the reliability of our service by more than 30 percent.
• Reduced the frequency of power outages by more than 20 percent.
• Shortened the duration of those outages by almost 30 percent.

Read on to learn how we’re continuing to enhance our service reliability.

Modernizing and balancing our power generation capacity

We're proud to have powered our community for more than 125 years. During this time we've worked hard to assess and utilize the latest technologies and resources to optimize our efficiency, reduce fuel costs and lower emissions. 

Solar Projects

Tampa Electric currently has the highest percentage of solar generating capacity of any investor-owned utility in Florida. Since 2017, our solar investments have saved customers over $200 million in fuel costs. Currently, our solar projects produce 1,252 megawatts of electricity - enough to power more than 200,000 homes. By the end of 2026, about 17 percent of Tampa Electric's energy will be generated by the sun, and we could provide enough solar energy to power about 260,000 homes.

Power Stations

Tampa Electric has made significant investments in the efficiency of our power stations. The completion of our Big Bend Modernization project is a prime example of Tampa Electric’s ongoing efforts to reduce our carbon emissions and balance our fuel mix. Big Bend Unit 1 is now the most efficient generator in our fleet. This project repowered Big Bend Unit 1 with state-of-the-art combined-cycle technology and eliminated coal as that unit’s fuel. This project can now produce enough energy to power more than 250,000 homes and will save customers more than $700 million over its lifetime.

Hardening our system through our Storm Protection Plan

Our long-term Storm Protection Plan strengthens our system against extreme weather events, such as hurricanes and tropical storms, by undergrounding select overhead lines, replacing wood poles with steel or concreate, modernizing our equipment and managing vegetation that causes outages. Through these actions, we’ve improved our reliability and:

• Decreased momentary flickers by more than 50%.
• Reduced tree-related outages by 40%.
• Shortened power restoration times.
• Cut storm-related restoration expenses.

Upgrading our technology to automatically restore service without sending a crew into the field

We’ve installed over 810,000 new digital smart meters at customer homes and businesses throughout our service area. This innovative technology modernizes our grid and improves reliability by automatically alerting us when there is an outage, so we can fix it faster.

Our investments in self-healing technology enhance our communication systems and enable the automatic and remote restoration of some services. This technology automatically isolates outages and routes power around the problem without sending a worker into the field. This dramatically reduces the number of customers affected by the outage – and speeds restoration.

And we installed "recloser" devices on power poles across our service area. These are designed to stop power interruptions before they impact additional customers.

Securing critical company facilities from extreme weather and cyberattacks

To be better prepared for extreme weather and cyberattacks that can disrupt the reliable flow of electricity, we’re moving our key facilities and critical energy control operations further inland, away from potential storm surge and flooding. We are also upgrading our critical energy management systems, which are used to deliver energy to customers. These proactive measures allow us to meet increasing security expectations and requirements, strengthen our defenses against severe weather and mitigate potential system damage.

Improving community safety with advanced lighting capabilities

We maintain more than 230,000 lights across West Central Florida, including Hillsborough County and parts of Polk, Pasco and Pinellas counties. We’re investing in technology that ensures the reliability of our lighting, which helps to keep our roadways safe and to reduce crime. This technology includes smart network controls, which allow faster repairs and reduce maintenance costs by automatically notifying us when a light goes out. Other technologies include smart city applications, installation of energy-efficiency light-emitting diode (LED) technology and solar-powered streetlights that remain operational during extreme weather conditions - delivering lighting our community can count on. We encourage everyone to report dark streetlights so we can restore service quickly.