How Duke Energy Achieved Zero Downtime During Hurricane Helene with FIRMSuite

Reserve power batteries are often overlooked—until they fail. Yet they’re among the most critical components of telecom and utility infrastructure, providing the last line of defense during power outages, natural disasters, and emergencies. Whether they’re backing up systems at a data center or a mountaintop communications site, their role is simple but vital: keep essential services online when everything else goes dark.

At UTC Region 3, Multitel joined Duke Energy on stage to share how data-driven maintenance and automation helped them do just that—maintain full uptime during Hurricane Helene.

The Hidden Complexity of Battery Maintenance

Batteries are deceptively passive components. But beneath the surface, they’re susceptible to:

Aging and degradation
Environmental stress
Inconsistent charging conditions
Lack of real-time health monitoring

Traditional maintenance models rely on periodic manual checks and scheduled replacements—an approach that can miss early warning signs and lead to costly failures.

Smart Monitoring for Smarter Decisions

In our joint presentation with Duke Energy, we outlined how FIRMSuite shifts the battery maintenance paradigm by:

Leveraging data analytics to monitor float current, temperature, voltage trends, and health indicators
Using condition-based and health-based replacement strategies rather than relying solely on age
Reducing truck rolls and on-site diagnostics through remote insight and automation
Creating alerts and decision triggers before batteries become a liability

For Duke Energy, this approach translated into measurable resilience. Even as Hurricane Helene struck, none of the monitored reserve power systems failed—a testament to proactive monitoring and informed maintenance strategies.