Entergy Arkansas has been awarded grant funding from the U.S. Department of Energy for two hydroelectric projects at the Carpenter and Remmel Dams.

Arkansas Power and Light founder Harvey Couch made a deal in 1913 to purchase sawdust – the company’s first fuel source – to burn and power a steam-powered turbine and send power through a 20-mile transmission line to customers in Malvern and Arkadelphia. That was the beginning of what would become Entergy Corporation, an integrated energy company engaged in electric power production, transmission and retail distribution operations across four service territories for 3 million customers. A little more than 10 years later, Mr. Couch’s Sterlington natural gas-powered plant in north Louisiana was placed online in November 1925. As the demand for electricity grew, so did the company’s fleet of power generation resources. Couch built Remmel Dam, the first hydroelectric dam on the Ouachita River, near Hot Springs in 1924. Just upstream in 1931 came Carpenter Dam, and both dams still generate emission-free power today.

With heavy rain pouring into Lake Hamilton and Lake Catherine the night of March 24, Entergy Arkansas employees Nathan Huffman and Darren Heard were inspecting Remmel and Carpenter dams to make sure all was well. The dams were fine, but not all was well.