Crews departing on sixth anniversary of Katrina to help restore power in
Atlantic City area
Baton Rouge, La. – After sending 160
restoration workers to Maryland on Saturday, Entergy's Louisiana utility
companies will send a second wave of some 65 workers today to help restore power
to those along the Eastern Seaboard who lost it following Hurricane Irene.
Including today's teams, Entergy as a
whole will have provided 551 company and resident contract workers from across
its four-state service area, some 225 of which are being provided by Entergy
Louisiana, LLC, Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, L.L.C. and Entergy New Orleans,
Inc. They will help restore power for customers of Pepco Holdings, Inc. – a
company that sent utility workers to help restore power in Louisiana following
2005's back-to-back strikes of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
In addition, 40 of Entergy’s customer
service representatives have assisted PHI utilities with customer calls from
those affected by Irene.
"We have benefited from the
assistance of other companies during restoration work many times over the years
so we are glad to be able to return the favor to those who helped us," said
Dennis Dawsey, vice president of transmission and distribution operations for
Louisiana. "Our employees take great pride in safely restoring power as quickly
as possible so customers can get back to their lives."
The first group left Louisiana
Saturday morning on what Dawsey said is one of the farthest in recent times.
After staying north of Atlanta overnight, they continued Sunday to the staging
area in Maryland just outside of Washington, D.C. Now that Irene has made its
way north, area utilities have assessed their needs. Entergy's Louisiana crews
initially slated to restore power to the nation's capital will head to the
Atlantic City, N.J. area and are expected to be there about two weeks.
Entergy's utility companies
participate in mutual assistance agreements with utility companies across the
country as well as within the Entergy family. When Entergy companies need
assistance after storms, restoration workers are sent to help safely restore
power to customers.
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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