Melissa Seixas, President, Duke Energy
August 2025 — By investing in grid upgrades and solar energy to meet the growing energy demands, Duke Energy President Melissa Seixas explained that “any win for us should always be a win for our customers and communities,” in a recent interview with Invest:. The necessity of understanding the needs of communities recovering from disasters and how they are leveraging AI and drones to improve operational efficiency are just a sample of the work Seixas and her team have done to make Tampa Bay a thriving metropolis today.
What makes Tampa Bay and the surrounding region an ideal location for Duke Energy’s operations?
We are incredibly fortunate to provide services here in Florida, particularly in the Tampa Bay area. Duke Energy operates in other states and jurisdictions, each with unique strengths, but Florida stands out as an excellent environment for energy providers. The state has a strong regulatory framework and robust partnerships among utilities. These partnerships are critical for balancing grid load and ensuring resiliency and reliability across the state.
Florida’s growth is another key factor. It is now the third most populated state in the country, and estimates expect the population will increase by over a million new residents by the end of the decade. This growth has been consistent year over year for the last three to four years. For instance, we set over 50,000 new meters in 2023, 2022, and even 2021. These represent new apartments, homes, or businesses. People are moving to Florida, and we are ready and privileged to serve them.
How does Duke Energy position itself to develop the workforce needed in the region?
Florida’s appeal is a great advantage for attracting talent. Strong relationships with other business leaders and participation in organizations like the Tampa Bay Partnership are crucial. These groups focus on workforce development and economic growth. Additionally, we collaborate closely with higher education institutions. For example, I serve on the Board of Trustees for the University of South Florida.
As such, whether it is through mentoring, volunteering, or serving on boards, our employees and leaders are deeply involved in the community. Economic development is another cornerstone. Larger commercial and industrial customers considering Florida often inquire about energy availability, reliability, and tariffs. Our team of economic development professionals works closely with the community to address these needs. Florida is truly a fantastic place for us to operate.
Where are you seeing demand in your products and services, and are there any new services that Duke Energy is seeking to launch?
One of our top priorities is the modernization and transformation of the grid through various initiatives. Our storm protection plan, for instance, focuses on resiliency. We have already seen positive outcomes from this plan during recent storms, with hundreds of millions of outage minutes saved or prevented. Self-healing technology is another advancement we are implementing.
Simultaneously, we are transforming the business by investing in renewable energy. Over the next three years, from 2025 to 2027, we plan to build 12 new solar units and expand battery storage capabilities. These efforts not only enhance reliability and resiliency but also support the growing energy needs of Florida’s residents and businesses.
How are you incorporating technology into your everyday operations to create efficiencies for your team or even just to perform data analytics?
I should start by mentioning that when investing in technological systems, we focus on aspects like self-healing teams, storm protection, and solar battery technology. We are continuously adding new services for our customers to help them manage their households or businesses more efficiently, particularly when it comes to energy usage.
We are also working to improve our billing options for customers. This is a necessary and valuable complement to the work we do on the grid. From an AI perspective and other technologies, we use these tools to train line personnel, which has proven to be extremely beneficial. It provides them with real-life experiences in addition to their fieldwork and training at our facilities.
We also use drones for damage assessment after storms and for year-round maintenance. For example, drones help us identify issues on transmission towers that may be 100 feet tall, enabling us to observe areas that might not be visible from the ground or by helicopter. There is a vast array of technologies we are deploying, but I always emphasize that technology is only as effective as the talent and dedication of the people behind it. When we have strong, committed employees paired with great technology, the customers truly benefit.
What is your outlook for Tampa Bay and Duke Energy over the next two to three years?
We will continue to focus on ensuring that our system is resilient, safe, and reliable. Our goal is to maintain a high level of reliability so customers experience fewer interruptions. Safety, reliability, and resiliency are all part of this effort.
We are also working on transforming our business. Solar energy plays a role in reducing fuel costs, which benefits our customers. Additionally, we are improving the efficiency of our power generation plants. These upgrades will enable the plants to produce more power and use less fuel, which is critical as more people move into the state. We are also exploring emerging technologies, such as advancements in battery storage, which will allow us to store and deploy more power effectively.
Florida is experiencing significant growth, especially in areas outside the Tampa Bay region. While Tampa Bay is largely built out, there are still developments happening. For instance, an empty lot today could become a 30-story building in the future. In other parts of our service area, growth is occurring rapidly. We have a diverse customer base and geography to serve, from urban settings like Tampa Bay to more rural areas like Polk County.
This diversity requires us to adjust our storm response strategies. For example, restoring service in Taylor County, which has faced three hurricanes in 13 months, differs from responding to a storm in Tampa Bay, where a million people might need to evacuate. We take pride in our work and approach it with seriousness, knowing we serve a wide range of communities.
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