Florida hurricane power outages since 2016, storm by storm

Most customers get power back within a day or two. The long tail is what hurts: a week after Ian, FPL still had about 91,000 customers out, mostly in Charlotte, Sarasota and Lee counties.

Irma, in September 2017. It knocked out power to 6.7 million electricity customers, 64% of all accounts in Florida, with outages peaking the afternoon after landfall, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. FPL called it the largest number of outages in its history and finished restoring its 4.4 million affected customers 10 days after the storm left.

Milton in 2024 came next among recent storms, with more than 3.3 million Florida customers out.

• Matthew (October 2016): moved up the east coast and caused nearly 1 million Florida outages, about 10% of customers. FPL restored 98% of its 1.2 million outages less than three days after the storm passed.
• Irma (September 2017): the statewide record above. FPL restored more than 2.7 million customers in the first 48 hours.
• Michael (October 2018): hit the Panhandle, then served by Gulf Power, which is now part of FPL. Gulf Power said some customers might wait until October 24, about two weeks, for power.
• Ian (September 2022): struck Southwest Florida. FPL restored more than 2.1 million customers in 8 days.
• Nicole (November 2022): FPL restored more than 95% of affected customers within 12 hours of the storm leaving, and essentially all within 24.
• Idalia (August 2023): mostly hit areas outside FPL's. About 545,000 Florida accounts lost power, and 96% were back by September 4.
• Debby and Helene (August and September 2024): FPL restored more than 250,000 customers after Debby and more than 680,000 after Helene.
• Milton (October 2024): more than 3.3 million Florida customers out; FPL restored more than 2 million in about 5 days.
• 2025: no named storm made landfall in Florida.
• Isaias (October 2026): a Category 2 landfall near Destin. About 448,000 Florida accounts were out the next morning, by the governor's count; FPL restored more than 95% of its 435,000 affected customers within four days.

FPL says so. It says smart grid equipment avoided about 824,000 customer outages across Debby, Helene and Milton in 2024, and that its underground neighborhood lines performed far better than overhead ones. Restoration has also gotten faster: Nicole in 2022 took under a day, where Irma took 10.

But hardening doesn't stop the biggest storms: Milton still knocked out millions. Underground lines can also fail when they flood. See FPL underground power lines and batteries.

Usually, through a temporary storm surcharge that covers restoration costs.

• Irma: about $1.3 billion, which FPL covered with federal tax savings instead of a surcharge.
• Ian and Nicole: $15.30 per 1,000 kWh starting in April 2023, later reduced to $6.65.
• Debby, Helene and Milton: about $12 a month on a typical 1,000 kWh bill through 2025.
• Isaias (2026): FPL has asked for $3.48 a month in 2027, pending Public Service Commission approval.

Solar doesn't remove surcharges billed per kWh, but every kWh your panels supply is one you don't buy at that rate. See why your FPL bill is so high.

Rooftop solar alone shuts off when the grid goes down, so line crews aren't hurt. Add a home battery and the system isolates from the grid and keeps your essentials, or your whole home, running, and the panels recharge the battery each sunny day of a long outage. See why solar panels don't work in a power outage, solar battery backup for hurricanes and generator vs. solar battery.

See what solar and a battery would cost for your home with the solar savings calculator.