Baton Rouge, La. – Even though
Hurricane Irene poses no current threat to Louisiana, crews from Entergy
Louisiana, LLC, Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, L.L.C. and Entergy New Orleans,
Inc. are preparing to help restore power to the Washington, D.C. area after the
storm hits.
Entergy will provide 170 company
workers. In addition, 92 resident utility contractors, who were sent to Florida
earlier this week, are relocating to Maryland. Of those numbers, the Louisiana
utilities will provide 160 company and resident contract workers, which includes
support personnel in safety, logistics and vegetation. The crews will be
assisting Pepco Holdings, Inc. which expects to experience tropical force winds
in its service territory as early as Saturday. The Louisiana crews are expected
to depart for Rockville, Md. on Saturday morning to be in place on Sunday.
"We are glad to do our part to help
restore power to the nation's capital after Irene passes through the area," said
Dennis Dawsey, vice president of transmission and distribution operations for
Louisiana. "We have benefited from the assistance of other companies during
restoration work many times over the years so we take pride in helping others
when it is our turn."
Dawsey added that this trip is one of
the farthest Louisiana crews have made in recent times. Entergy's utility
companies participate in mutual assistance agreements with utility companies
across the country as well as within the Entergy family. In fact, Pepco
Holdings, Inc. sent utility workers to help Entergy restore service following
hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
When Entergy companies need
assistance after storms, restoration workers are sent to help safely restore
power to customers. The Louisiana crews heading to the Washington, D.C. area
were drawn from work groups across the state, leaving enough personnel in
Louisiana to manage routine day-to-day work.
Entergy’s Louisiana utility companies
serve more than one million customers through the operating companies Entergy
Louisiana, LLC and Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, L.L.C. With operations in
southern, central and northeastern Louisiana, the companies are part of Entergy
Corporation’s electric system serving 2.7 million customers in Louisiana,
Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas.
Entergy New Orleans, Inc. is an
electric and gas utility serving Orleans Parish and is a subsidiary of Entergy
Corporation. The company provides electricity to approximately 160,000 customers
and natural gas to approximately 100,000 customers in Orleans Parish.
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