Duke Energy highlights smart technology, weather preparations heading into hurricane season

CHARLOTTE — This Saturday is the official start of the 2024 hurricane season.

On Thursday, Channel 9 was able to get an inside look at Duke Energy’s Operations Center as they work to prepare for possible storms.

The distribution grid control center in University City is the central hub for repair crews and communities in the power grid.

From there, Duke can remotely check every power meter. That way, they can check if a customer’s power has been restored before sending extra crews to the same place.

Jeff Brooks, a spokesperson for Duke Energy, explained how the company is implementing smart technology to better serve its customers.

“Increasingly, we’re relying on smart technologies that can help to automatically detect power outages and self-heal the system,” Brooks said. “This reroutes the power to other power lines to help reduce the number of customers impacted by outages and restore service to customers faster.”

Duke Energy says it’s also taken hurricane precautions by installing flood protection around substations and replacing some wooden utility poles with stronger poles made from steel.

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