Duke Energy thanks Greater Cincinnati customers for their patience and support as storm workers restored power after rare derecho

CINCINNATI, Aug. 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 2,000 electric lineworkers, tree trimmers and support personnel helped restore more than 340,000 customer power outages across Greater Cincinnati after multiple severe storms caused widespread damage throughout the region last week.

Here's what happened

• Storm workers restored 85% of customer outages less than 48 hours after last Tuesday afternoon's derecho caused extensive damage to the electric system.

• It was the region's first derecho since 2012 and was followed by additional storm fronts that caused further outages and slowed power restoration efforts.

• According to the National Weather Service, a derecho is a rare, widespread, long-lived windstorm associated with fast-moving thunderstorms. It can produce damage similar to a tornado, but typically along a broad, straight path.

Our view
Amy Spiller, Duke Energy Ohio/Kentucky president:

• "We appreciate the patience, understanding and support our customers showed as crews worked through extensive damage and challenging weather conditions.

• "Even after multiple storms left significant impacts across the system, our teams restored 85% of the outages in less than 48 hours.

• "I'm incredibly proud of our storm workers and support teams who worked tirelessly to restore power following these storms."

By the numbers

• Duke Energy restored more than 340,000 customer outages from Tuesday, Aug. 11, through Saturday, Aug. 15, as crews worked through multiple days of storm impacts and outage events.

• More than 2,000 lineworkers, tree trimmers and other storm workers – including Duke Energy workers from Indiana and the Carolinas – helped restore power in Greater Cincinnati.

Grid technology reduces outages

• Self-healing technology installed on Duke Energy's power grid in Greater Cincinnati automatically restored around 23,000 customer outages, saving more than 225,000 hours of total outage time.

• This technology automatically reroutes power around downed power lines and damaged equipment – enabling faster outage restoration, strengthening the grid during storms and improving everyday reliability.

• This allows service to be restored faster – often in less than a minute – or even helps avoid power outages altogether.

• Around 80% of Duke Energy's electric customers in Ohio and Kentucky are served by this technology.

Duke Energy Ohio/Kentucky
Duke Energy Ohio & Kentucky, subsidiaries of Duke Energy, provide electric service to 920,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in a 3,000-square-mile service area, and natural gas service to 563,000 customers in a 2,650-square-mile service area, in Ohio and Kentucky.

Duke Energy
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of America's largest energy holding companies. The company's electric utilities serve 8.7 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and collectively own 55,700 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas utilities serve 1.6 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio and Kentucky.

Duke Energy is executing an energy modernization strategy, keeping customer value at the forefront as it invests in electric grid upgrades and efficient generation resources to strengthen the system and serve growing energy needs.

More information is available at duke-energy.com. Follow Duke Energy on X, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook for stories about the people and innovations powering its communities.

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SOURCE Duke Energy