© unknownLee County Electric Cooperative • Florida Governor Ron DeSantis • Charlie Christ
The Lee County Electric Cooperative (LCEC) provides power utility coverage to approximately 200,000 homes in Sanibel, Cape Coral and Pine Island: three of the hardest hit western zone regions in the Hurricane Ian disaster. Hundreds of people have asked me in my extensive travels why there are
zero power trucks visible in Cape Coral working on the power grid, downed power lines and broken infrastructure. Now, it looks like we have the answer.What LCEC is intentionally doing is jaw-dropping. In all my years of hurricane recovery, there has never -
NEVER- been a more crystal-clear example of
a decision to put profits over people. LCEC is literally taking advantage of tens of thousands of vulnerable residents. Tonight,
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is calling them out [LINK]. I will explain what is happening, but first check out the
DeSantis message:
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Today, after receiving a briefing at the State Emergency Operations Center on current efforts to restore power in Southwest Florida, Governor DeSantis called on the Lee County Electric Cooperative (LCEC) to accept additional mutual aid to expedite power restoration to the residents of Cape Coral, North Fort Myers, Sanibel and Pine Island.
At this time, Florida Power and Light (FPL) has restored power to more than 45% of their accounts in Lee County, while LCEC has only restored power to 9% of their accounts (18,000 out of 183,000 customers). To assist in restoration efforts, the Florida Electrical Cooperatives Association has readied resources from its members around the state that are available to deploy on mutual aid.
Mutual aid would allow the LCEC to expedite power restoration, especially to Cape Coral and North Fort Myers as residents return to their homes and begin the road to recovery. Power restoration in these areas is also essential to resume the full use of essential services such as health care facilities, operation of schools and ensure access to running water. (link)
Please share this part far and wide. You know me to call the baby ugly when warranted; this is one such time. People in the impact zone need to know what is happening.
Comment: A longer clip of the segment: