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Gov. Rick Scott: Additional utility resources standing by to help Tallahassee

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – On Monday evening, Governor Scott released the following statement following his meeting with city and county leaders in Tallahassee regarding power restoration efforts in Leon County.

Governor Scott said, “This afternoon, I offered the City of Tallahassee and Talquin a proposal that included having utility workers operate side by side with contractors the state hired to be more efficient in restoring power. I am pleased that Talquin has accepted this proposal, and I am eagerly awaiting a response from the City of Tallahassee. As I said during the meeting with local officials this evening, I am appreciative of everyone’s hard work on restoring power, from the call center operators to the line men and women. However, I am incredibly disappointed about where the city is on restoring power. It has been almost four days since the storm and there are still over 21,000 families and businesses in Tallahassee without power. My focus is on what can the city and county do differently and what additional resources can be provided to fully restore power to all citizens.

“I have been assessing damage in Tallahassee and speaking with members of the community for the past four days. People across the city are frustrated. Right now, some schools are unable to open, businesses can’t open, people cannot go back to work to generate the income to feed their families and the list goes on.

“Both the state and many private companies have offered additional resources many times. In addition to previous offers made since Friday, tonight utility companies have once again offered to aid the city in power restoration efforts. This includes 400 workers from Duke Energy, 300 workers from Florida Power of Light, 75 workers from Gulf Power, 40 workers from Jacksonville Electric Authority and 210 workers from TECO. These companies are currently awaiting the city’s response on whether this is something that could be helpful to restoring power. Earlier today, we announced that in addition to the crews accepted by the City of Tallahassee from the state yesterday, more contractors were deployed at my direction this afternoon to further help restore power. This is something the state will continue to fund and we will keep sending crews.”

“The hurricane season is not over, and next time we could be facing an even stronger storm. Cities and counties must be prepared. The State will continue to offer every available resource to Tallahassee, Leon and Wakulla counties to help families without power so they can begin to recover.”