Xcel Energy staging Midwest crews to assist with Milton response

Xcel Energy announced Thursday, October 10, that they are staging more than 100 of their employees from across Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, and several other states to help respond to power outages in in the Southeast United States following Hurricane Milton’s landfall. The response team will consist of line workers, safety consultants, fleet mechanics and operations leaders.

“This area of the country has been devastated by hurricane damage and we’re grateful to our crews and everyone who has worked tirelessly to restore power,” said Bob Frenzel, chairman, president and CEO at Xcel Energy. “We saw the importance of mutual aid in the wake of Hurricane Helene and are honored to show up once again.”

As of Thursday morning, crews from Eau Claire, Menomonie, Hudson, Amery, Rice Lake, La Crosse, Sparta, Manitowish Waters and Ironwood, Michigan are currently staged in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Those crews are awaiting assignment in the Tampa area.

Xcel energy had already sent these crews to Georgia where they restored power to roughly 2,000 customers, repaired five miles of power lines, fixed 50 broken poles, replaced 10 transformers and cleared debris from Hurricane Helene, according to a company representative