Hearing on TECO High-Voltage Lines in FishHawk Set for Polk County

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection will take public comment in June, and the meeting is in Bartow.

Residents in and around FishHawk Ranch will soon have another chance to voice their opinions about Tampa Electric's plans to construct an electrical transmission corridor between Channing Park and the Bridges. However, if you want to speak at the hearing, you'll have to drive to Polk County. The hearing is taking place at the Bartow Civic Center. Traveling from Newsome High School, that's just over 25 miles, according to Mapquest. If the project is approved, Tampa Electric will expand the plant by about 460 megawatts, or enough electricity to power more than 100,000 homes.  The project would include construction of 120-foot-tall transmission towers along the nature trail behind The Bridges, the equivalent of a 12-story building in height. …

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TECO Helicopters to Inspect Transmission Towers

Work will begin Jan. 28 and include Riverview and Brandon area.

Area residents need not be alarmed if they see low-flying helicopters hovering around Tampa Electric transmission poles and towers in the next month. It’s part of the company’s ongoing inspection of transmission equipment. Work will begin at 8 a.m. Jan. 28 and continue for about 30 days during daylight hours. Crews will survey about 5,200 transmission structures, approximately 23 percent of the system. A low-flying helicopter will hover for a short time about 150 to 300 feet above the ground near each structure. These inspections are expected to be completed by Feb. 27, weather permitting. The inspections are taking place along Tampa Electric’s urban and rural rights of way. Some inspections will take place within view of area roads and …

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TECO to Reduce Energy Bills

The Florida Public Service Commission approved TECO's request to drop rates.

Tampa Electric customers will see lower bills in January because of lower costs for natural gas – the fifth consecutive reduction in fuel costs in the past four years. The Florida Public Service Commission yesterday approved the company’s request as filed. Beginning in January, a residential customer’s monthly bill will drop by $4.32, to $102.58 for 1,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh), a 4 percent drop from the current $106.90 a month. Commercial customers will see bills drop by nearly 5 percent; industrial customers will remain flat. This reduction will bring Tampa Electric residential customers’ bills to about 14 percent below the national average – which is $119 per month, according to May 2012 data from the Energy Information Administration. “…

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Sheriff's Office Defuses Protest Near TECO

Protesters blocked the roadway to TECO today.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office was able to defuse a demonstration in front of Tampa Electric Co.'s Big Bend Station off U.S. 41 in Gibsonton after 150 protesters gathered around 2:30 p.m. Aug. 30. According to the sheriff's Office, three protestors interlocked their arms and legs using a device known as "the sleeping dragon" and blocked the roadway to TECO. Meanwhile, two more protestors laid across the road, blocking the roadway interlocked in the sleeping dragon device and another protestor climbed on top of a semi trailer. Law enforcement personnel arrived for crowd management and specially trained Hillsborough County deputies and Tampa police officers were cut free of the self-made locking devices. There were no injuries to …

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TECO Warns Customers About Bill Payment Scam

Tampa Electric is alerting customers to a fraudulent claim that President Obama will pay customers’ utility bills.

News Report Tampa Electric is alerting customers to a fraudulent claim that President Obama will pay customers’ utility bills. The company has received several reports of customers being contacted by an individual claiming to be a Tampa Electric/TECO Energy employee. The individual informs the customer of bill payment assistance or credits from President Obama, and requests payment information. The scam is affecting utility customers across the country, and is being spread through social media channels. All Tampa Electric employees and contractors doing utility work are required to carry photo identification cards. If someone claiming to be a utility representative visits your home or business, request to see their badge or call the …

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Update: Power Restored For Most Bell Shoals Area TECO Customers

A power outage struck more than 3,300 TECO customers in the Valrico and Riverview areas late Thursday afternoon.

The power went out for more than 3,300 TECO customers in the Valrico and Riverview areas late Thursday afternoon. About half of those customers in the Bell Shoals area had their power restored by 6 p.m., said TECO spokeswoman Cherie Jacobs, and the rest were expected to regain power soon. A look at the energy company's real-time outage map at 6:30 p.m. showed 268 homes in the area still without power. A substation fire was the likely cause, Jacobs said. Earlier Thursday, another 1,400 customers in the Providence Road area in Brandon were without power. The cause was a bad underground cable, according to Jacobs.

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Tampa Electric Restores Power to Customers After Debby

Thousands of customers were without power.

Power was restored on Tuesday night to all Tampa Electric customers who were affected by Tropical Storm Debby, officials said today. About 20,000 customers had lost power since Debby hit Tampa Bay on Sunday, said Cherie Jacobs, a spokeswoman for Tampa Electric. Jacobs said customers without power were patient during the storm, the severity of which caused roadblocks for crews trying to restore power. "One of the challenges our crew had with Debby was the volume of small, scattered outages," Jacobs said. "When there's scattered outages like this storm, it's a challenge for our crews because it's more time-consuming. Some areas are difficult to access because of standing water." About 350 Tampa Electric employees and contractors worked to …

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4,000 TECO Customers Without Power Monday

The public utility warns customers they could still see more outages as Tropical Storm Debby lingers in Tampa Bay.

  About 4,000 TECO customers were without power Monday morning in the wake of heavy rain and winds from Tropical Storm Debby. That's far less than the 20,000 between Tampa and Winter Haven who were in the dark during the intense storm Sunday evening, but TECO spokesperson Cherie Jacobs cautioned customers they could still see more outages. "With a storm system hanging over us today, we will likely see additional outages pop up today, and possibly over the next few days," Jacobs said in an email to Patch. A look at the energy company's real-time outage map at 9:45 a.m. Monday showed 3,987 reported outages, with lots of dots around the Tampa Bay area signifying small and medium outages. Most were estimated to be repaired by 1:30 p.m. at the …

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Businesses, Residents Warned About Telephone Scam

Someone impersonating a utility representative is calling businesses and asking for credit card information.

News Report Progress Energy Florida and Tampa Electric have joined together to warn customers of a recent telephone-based scam that has surfaced in the Tampa Bay area. In the past several weeks, each utility has received several complaints from small businesses, such as medical clinics, law firms and nail or hair salons, that someone impersonating a utility representative has called their office. In some cases, the scammer has targeted residential customers or Asian-owned businesses. The caller, sometimes a man and sometimes a woman, claims the customer’s account will be disconnected shortly because of an unsigned check or unpaid balance, and he or she then requests a credit card number to avoid the disconnection.  In at least two cases, …

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D'Ann White

3:10 pm on Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Has anybody out there experienced this?   more ›

FishHawk Residents Turn Out to Oppose TECO Plan

An overflow crowd packed The Palmetto Club in FishHawk Ranch on May 24 to discuss their concerns with state legislators.