Tampa Electric Company has asked state regulators to approve a proposed agreement that would largely freeze base rates though 2021 and help lead to an expansion of solar energy.
Right now, Bob Buckhorn is simply too busy to take stock. But in the next few weeks, after most of the cleanup efforts have been finished following Hurricane Irma’s blow Sunday night, Tampa’s mayor says there will be time to take stock of lessons learned for when another major storm makes its path toward the Bay area.
Tampa Electric Company’s CEO says the company is furiously working to restore power to customers in Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas and Polk counties, and expects that most will have their electricity back by the end of the weekend, if not sooner.
The Hillsborough County Emergency Policy Group has extended the local state of emergency declared last Wednesday regarding Hurricane Irma for an extra seven days.
Hillsborough County Administrator Mike Merrill said that while storm surge was the biggest concern of government officials in the Tampa Bay area as Hurricane Irma approached on Sunday, it is now flooding that may be the primary concern.
Saying that the magnitude of Hurricane Irma has the potential to be a storm “unlike anything that we have ever seen,” Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn declared a state of emergency late Wednesday morning.
Citing a recent newspaper investigation which revealed that Tampa Electric Company ignored special guidelines to prevent workers from being injured at its Big Bend Power Station, Tampa’s U.S. Representative Kathy Castor is calling on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to take steps to increase worker safety at power plants. Five men working at TECO’s Big Bend Power Station in Apollo Beach died June 29 after suffering massive burns when a molten substance called “slag” gushed out of a tank…
