Fans, air conditioners and ‘smart strips’ given to elderly, disabled customers

JACKSON, Miss. – Some 75 Hinds County residents left Shady Grove Recreation Center feeling a little better and a tad smarter about the heat today. After all, they had a new fan or air conditioner in hand, and a ‘smart strip’ power outlet, courtesy of Entergy Mississippi, Inc.’s Beat the Heat fan give-away program.

This marks the 14th year of the program, which has provided more than 7,300 fans and more than 600 air conditioners to thousands of low-income, elderly and disabled customers in the state.

This year, employees are distributing 200 oscillating fans and 36 window-unit air conditioners to pre-qualified Mississippi residents. Sixty-two of those fans and 13 air conditioners went to the Hinds County residents. For the first time, Entergy Mississippi is also giving away some 200 “smart strips” with every fan and air conditioner. These multi-plug power strips are more energy-efficient than standard power strips. ‘Smart strips’ monitor power consumption and can sense whether computers and other devices are on or off. When a device is off, it shuts off the power, eliminating the idle current drawn from them.

“Our elderly customers are the most vulnerable when it comes to high heat,” said Louis Wright, customer service manager for Entergy Mississippi, Inc. in Jackson. “So we are thrilled to be able to give them these fans and air conditioners, and to help them offset any additional electrical use by providing the new power strips.”

Entergy Mississippi partners with county action agencies and the Mississippi Department of Human Services to bring the Beat the Heat program to customers.

Entergy Mississippi, Inc. provides electricity to more than 437,000 customers in 45 counties. It is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation. Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, including more than 10,000 megawatts of nuclear power, making it one of the nation’s leading nuclear generators. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.8 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $11 billion and approximately 15,000 employees.

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entergy-mississippi.com
Twitter: @EntergyMS