Entergy Mississippi representatives joined other storm response experts for the Mississippi Public Service Commission’s “From Recovery to Resilience: Mississippi Storm Preparedness Summit,” which focused on the severe winter weather event that impacted the state in late January. The two-day event held recently in Tupelo brought together emergency management officials, elected officials, city leaders, non-profit organizations and utilities to discuss the experiences from earlier this year and the lessons learned through those experiences.

Speakers ranged from meteorologists and state emergency management officials to cybersecurity specialists and leaders of non-profit organizations, local mayors and utility subject matter experts. Topics included “Mutual Aid in Action: How Partnerships Accelerated Restoration,” “Chainsaws, Trucks and Time: The County’s Fight to Recover,” and “Beyond the After-Action Report: Brutal Lessons in Crisis Leadership.”

Jay Luckey, senior manager, operations and construction, Entergy Mississippi, presented a session, “Strengthening Emergency Preparedness and Response,” in which he gave an overview of our storm response, from pre-storm planning to completing power restoration. He noted the crucial role mutual aid assistance and base camps played in the restoration effort, while giving the numbers, including damages, outages, and workers involved, that demonstrated how extensive the impact of the storm was.

He shared a map showing the intensity of the storm across the region and highlighted how this created difficulty in securing mutual aid resources from our usual partners in neighboring states.

“Our neighboring states were also recovering from the winter weather event, so workers came from 23 states and Canada to help restore power,” said Luckey. “This particular storm also presented some unique challenges, such as difficult terrain, issues with heating the base camps and keeping water from freezing at the camps, and icy roads.”

Luckey also shared lessons learned, including the importance of requesting resources early when there are likely to be resource constraints, preparing for extreme cold at the base camps, acquiring more off-road equipment, and fostering relationships.

He also provided an example of how the winter storm revealed the wisdom of strengthening the grid, telling how the town of Rolling Fork provided an excellent illustration of this in the winter storm. After the March 2023 tornado devastated the town, it damaged many of our assets. When we rebuilt our infrastructure back in that community, we made it even stronger.

“During the winter storm, we were able to see first-hand the benefits of our investments in Rolling Fork,” said Luckey. “Our infrastructure mirrored the resilient spirit of the town itself, standing strong against the ice and sleet. Only three of the new poles needed to be replaced after the 2026 Winter Storm.”

He also highlighted how we will continue to strengthen the grid through Superpower Mississippi, Entergy Mississippi’s five-year investment in reliability, to help reduce the number and duration of outages. It is the largest, most comprehensive grid upgrade in the company’s history and will not only save customers millions but will help our grid withstand future storms.​

At the end of his presentation, Trina George, city manager for Grenada, thanked the Entergy Mississippi crews for restoring power in the area, the customer service team for setting up the Customer Information Center and Commissioner Chris Brown, Public Service Commissioner for the Northern District and Haley Fisackerly, president and CEO, for their leadership.

In addition to Luckey’s presentation, Entergy Mississippi also had a table with informational materials to share with the attendees and provided an opportunity for networking, making connections and building the relationships that are so important during storm events.