BATON ROUGE, La. – Entergy Louisiana has restored power to all customers who can safely receive it, impacted by the recent winter storm that brought prolonged freezing temperatures, heavy ice accumulation and strong winds to North Louisiana. Since the start of the storm, crews safely restored service to close to 130,000 customers, with many requiring restoration multiple times as ongoing ice damage continued to impact the system.
The storm caused widespread damage across the region, with rural and heavily wooded areas of North Louisiana among the hardest hit. Crews worked long hours in dangerous conditions to rebuild critical infrastructure, often navigating icy roadways, fallen trees and remote, hard-to-access areas.
Unlike fast-moving storms, ice causes damage slowly and relentlessly. Ice-laden trees and power lines continued to fail for days, delaying damage assessments and creating new outages even after initial restorations were completed. Repeated rounds of freezing temperatures made this event especially difficult, extending restoration timelines.
“Our goal is always to restore power as safely and as quickly as possible for the communities we serve,” said Phillip May, Entergy Louisiana president and CEO. “This storm presented unique challenges, but we’re grateful to have every customer restored and are applying lessons learned to strengthen our response for future events.
I want to extend my deep appreciation to the mutual assistance crews who traveled from across the country, and even from Canada, to support restoration efforts. These teams left their homes and families to work alongside Entergy crews, providing critical resources and expertise.”
At the heart of the restoration were approximately 4,400 men and women lineworkers, contractors and support personnel who worked long hours in hazardous conditions climbing ice-covered poles, battling high winds, repairing damaged equipment in subfreezing temperatures and returning to the same locations multiple times as conditions worsened.
The electric grid is a highly interconnected system, and restoring power is not as simple as flipping a switch. Crews worked deliberately and methodically to safely rebuild and re-energize the system piece by piece. In some cases, power had to be restored and then temporarily shut off again so crews could make additional repairs or safely bring other parts of the system back online.
In advance of the storm, Entergy Louisiana activated its emergency response plan, staging crews, equipment and materials across the state and securing mutual assistance resources to respond as quickly and safely as conditions allowed.
Entergy Louisiana thanks its customers for their patience and understanding during this restoration and appreciates the coordination and support from local and state partners. The company is proud of the dedication, resilience and professionalism demonstrated by the men and women who answered the call under some of the most challenging winter conditions North Louisiana has ever faced.
About Entergy Louisiana
Entergy Louisiana provides electricity to more than 1.1 million customers in 58 parishes. Entergy Louisiana is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR). Entergy produces, transmits and distributes electricity to power life for 3 million customers through our operating companies in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. We’re investing for growth and improved reliability and resilience of our energy system while working to keep energy rates affordable for our customers. We’re also investing in cleaner energy generation like modern natural gas, nuclear and renewable energy. A nationally recognized leader in sustainability and corporate citizenship, we deliver more than $100 million in economic benefits each year to the communities we serve through philanthropy, volunteerism and advocacy. Entergy is a Fortune 500 company headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, and has approximately 12,000 employees. Learn more at entergylouisiana.com and connect with @EntergyLA on social media.
