Duke Energy joined community leaders Sumter County to celebrate the groundbreaking of the company’s new Wildwood Training Center, a state-of-the-art facility that will support the teams and systems that play a critical role in driving Florida communities.
The announcement event featured keynote speakers from business leaders and elected officials, and a ceremonial groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate and reaffirm a shared commitment to supporting the region’s economic vitality.
The Wildwood Training Center will help the company expand the training of transmission engineers and technical staff responsible for improving and modernizing Duke Energy’s infrastructure to meet the growing needs of Florida.
The new facility will feature indoor classrooms and equipment training rooms as well as an outdoor training area with a training substation.
Tradespeople and technicians – such as transmission and distribution line, substation and relay technicians – not only keep homes and businesses supplied with electricity, they also play a fundamental role in grid improvement projects that help modernize and strengthen Duke Energy’s system, including protecting against storms and other impacts, increasing grid reliability and resilience, and integrating new, renewable energy.
“The electricity grid is a vast, complex system that works around the clock to provide reliable electricity to homes, businesses, hospitals, public safety facilities and school buildings around the world. Florida,” said Jason WilliamsSenior Vice President of Power Grid Operations at Duke Energy Florida. “Our power grid employees are invaluable and are the first to respond after storms. They play an incredibly important role in preparing for and building a smarter energy future for our customers and supporting the tremendous growth in Florida.”
The company plans to complete the new training facility in 2025.
“The city Wildwood is thrilled to be part of today’s ceremony and equally excited about what is to come for Duke Energy, its new training facility and the hard-working employees who will use this building,” said Mayor Ed Wolf, City of Wildwood“We are honored to become a training center for such an important trade, and we look forward to continuing to partner with companies like Duke Energy so we can continue to meet the unique needs of our growing community.”
Duke Energy Florida, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, has 12,300 megawatts of energy capacity and serves two million residential, commercial and industrial customers in a 13,000 square mile service area in Florida.
