The Latest Information About Power Restoration on Sanibel Island

The City of Sanibel shared on Sunday 11/13 updated information about restoring power to a structure on the island. This latest information has to do with the proper channels that electrical contractors and electrical engineers must go through in order to request that the LCEC turn on the power to a structure on the island. 

Protocols for Electrical Contractors to Request Power Restoration

An electrical contractor that is licensed within the state of Florida may inspect and submit an affidavit to restore power to residential structures requiring service less than 600 A or 240 V and commercial structures requiring less than 800 A or 240 V.

Requesting electricity to undamaged structures

A structure requesting power that is undamaged through an electrical contractor must have the contractor submit a completed City of Sanibel post-hurricane Ian electrical safety inspection – contractors form. This form must be submitted to the city of Sanibel through email at IANpoweraffidavit@mysanibel.com. Once this proper form has been filled out and received at the proper email the City of Sanibel will notify LCEC that power is approved to be restored to the structure within 24 hours of receiving the proper form.

Requesting electricity to damaged structures

If a structure is damaged the electrical contractor is required to make the necessary repairs to categorize the structure as safe for power restoration. Once a structure is safe for power restoration an electrical contractor needs to submit a completed City of Sanibel post-hurricane Ian electrical safety inspection – contractors form to the email address IANpoweraffidavit@sanibel.com. Once a report is completed and received the city will notify that there is permission for power to be restored within 24 hours.

Protocols for electrical engineers to request power restoration

Any licensed Florida electrical engineers are allowed to inspect and submit an affidavit for residential and commercial electrical services regardless of the size of service needed for the structure. Electrical engineers licensed in the state of Florida are the only professionals able to submit and inspect an affidavit attesting that a structure is safe for the LCEC to restore power within the limits set for Florida state-licensed electrical contractors.

Requesting electrical service to undamaged or damaged structures 

An electrical engineer in the state of Florida may request power be turned back on in any capacity to both undamaged and damaged structures by submitting the same City of Sanibel post-hurricane Ian electrical safety inspection form. But they must fill out the version of the form specifically for engineers. This form can be submitted to the same email as the standard electrical contractor form. For a damaged structure the licensed electrical contractor needs to make the required repairs and then inspect those repairs to make sure that the structure is safe for restoration before submitting a form.

The Process After the City Submits the Affidavit to LCEC

After the city has received a submitted contractor or engineer's affidavit to the proper email they will notify the LCEC within 24 hours. At this time the LCEC will process the received forms and assign a work order to a line crew within 24 hours of receiving the affidavit from the city of Sanibel.

The LCEC will make every effort possible to have power restored to structures with the proper permissions within 72 hours of receipt of the proper forms from the city of Sanibel. There may be some structures that the line crew still deems unsafe to restore power to even after an inspection affidavit has been submitted.

If infrastructure repairs are needed from the power company's end they will do everything needed to make the repairs so power can be restored. If the LCEC finds that the property owner's contractor or engineer needs to complete some repairs they will give notice to the property owner or professional that submitted the affidavit and request that a new affidavit is submitted once the proper repairs are complete.

Only to find LCEC personnel may officially restore power back to any structure on the island. Neither electrical contractors nor electrical engineers are authorized to restore any power to any structure on the island at any time.

How to know if an affidavit has been received

The LCEC website has now set up a portion of their online site to allow customers to verify if their affidavit has been received from the city of Sanibel at this link: https://customer.lcec.net/LCEC_public/pages/restorationapp/restorationapp.xhtml

For more information on the latest in hurricane Ian restoration efforts, you can go to the city of Sanibel Facebook page or the city of Sanibel website.

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