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Thousands were without power as freeze warnings impacted Tampa Bay

Posted at 8:43 AM, Jan 18, 2018
and last updated 2018-01-19 04:19:50-05

Thousands of people in Tampa Bay were without power on Thursday, one of the coldest days in Tampa Bay.

Duke Energy and TECO reported that most of the outages were caused by weather-related damage to equipment.

Tampa, St. Pete and Lakeland set record low temps on Thursday

Duke Energy first reported over 5,300 customers without power on Thursday morning across Pinellas County, Pasco County, Polk County and Citrus County. TECO reported over 1,400 in Tampa. Electric crews worked throughout the day to restore power. Duke Energy linemen reported to work at 5 a.m. Thursday to resolve issues with cold-stressed equipment. 

Russell Stevens was one of the unlucky ones who lost electricity. "It's the coldest I've ever been in Florida," he exclaimed. Stevens can’t believe the odds: Temperatures in the 30s and no power. "It's kinda weird being in Florida and it's cold and we don't have the option to turn the heat on."

Even if you didn’t lose electricity, get ready for a bigger power bill. Anna Gibbs, a Duke Energy spokesperson explained, “Let’s say that we’re at 28 degrees and you set your thermostat to 68 degrees, you’re heater is working extra hard to make up a 40 degree difference. you’re going to see that on your energy bill.”

Freeze Warnings issued for Tampa Bay

Temperatures reached record lows in parts of the Bay Area on Thursday morning. The National Weather Service issued a freeze warning for all of Tampa Bay until 9 a.m. as the strong cold front moved through the area. 

Click here to find out when power is expected to be restored in your area.