Frustrations are growing for some people across Central Florida who still don’t have power after Hurricane Irma, despite Duke Energy's apologies for continued delays and promises to have power restored in the region by Sept. 19.

  • Company apologizes, faults technology issues
  • Unless major repairs necessary, power should be back on by Monday night
  • Residents frustrated due to company providing inconsistent answers

Seminole County resident Marie Sprowl said many of her neighbors have power, but her family is still in the dark.

“We’ve been living out of the car and I’ve been sleeping on the floor at my sister’s house," Sprowl said. "With three kids under three - it’s been real, real fun."

Reaching out to her electric provider, Duke Energy, Sprowl said, has only increased her frustrations.

“It’s been frustrating because every time we call it’s been a different story as to what’s going on,” said Sprowl.

Naturally, Sprowl said she’s been spending a lot of time looking for power trucks, and that one showed up in her neighborhood on Monday afternoon. She said crews were able to restore power to more of her neighborhood, but a smashed transformer box in her neighbor’s yard will have to be fixed before she and a handful of her neighbors can get power back.

In response to the growing number of customers expressing sentiments like Sprowl's, Duke Energy says it’s impossible to consult with each customer about the status of their individual power situation. The company is apologizing for not meeting their promised goal of getting all power restored by Sunday night.

“Unfortunately, in this instance, we didn’t provide the experience that a lot of our customers wanted,” said Duke Energy spokesperson Jeff Brooks. “We had some technology issues that caused us to revise some estimates, and we apologize for that - that was totally on us - so that’s something we’re going to work to improve on.”

Brooks told us most customers in Seminole County should have power back on by Monday night, except for cases like Sprowl's, where electrical equipment connected to a customer’s home was damaged so badly that it needs major repairs.