Crews positioned in Delta; additional help on standby

JACKSON, Miss. – Some 275 Entergy and contract workers are stationed in the Mississippi Delta and north central Mississippi ready to respond to any power outages resulting from the winter weather moving across the state.

Minimal icing occurred across the central and delta parts of the state on Monday with very few outages. However, today’s prediction is for up to one-half inch of additional icing in the highest risk areas of the Delta and north Mississippi.

“This storm poses a threat to our electric system, and we’ve prepared accordingly. We have 19 contract line crews plus travel teams from our southern and central regions positioned in these areas so they can respond to any threat as soon as it’s safe to do so,” said Dale Hancock, operations manager for Entergy Mississippi, Inc. “In addition, we have management teams, safety specialists, vegetation crews and 40 scouts located across the area.”

“We also have another 125 linemen and support workers from Entergy Mississippi, Entergy Texas and contractors packed and ready to go to the Delta and north Mississippi if needed,” he said.

Entergy officials work closely with the company’s weather experts before a storm strikes to assess the potential risk and prepare accordingly. Additionally, the company is in contact with neighboring utilities as part of the industry's mutual assistance program and can mobilize hundreds of additional crews on short notice if the circumstances warrant.

When storm-related outages do occur, Entergy first restores power to critical service providers, such as hospitals, fire stations and police departments. Next, crews focus on doing the work that will restore the largest numbers of people as quickly as possible. Customers should call 1-800-9OUTAGE (1-800-968-82443) to report outages, downed or dangling power lines or other damaged electrical equipment.

“Safety is always our first priority,” said Hancock. “Customers should monitor the storm and, if needed, implement their own storm plans. When a storm hits, do not walk in standing water and stay away from downed power lines and the debris that could hide them. They could be energized and deadly.”

Customers can find storm-preparedness tips, a View Outages map and other storm-related information at stormcenter.entergy.com. Customers can also sign up to send and receive outage-related text messages. To use the service, register a cellphone number by texting the message REG to 368374. The system will respond and ask for an Entergy account number and ZIP code.

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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