Power was restored on Sept. 6 to all customers who could safely receive it, ending an 11-day restoration effort by more than 7000 Entergy employees and contractors to restore 291,300 customers in Texas. Despite power being restored to customers, the company continued work to repair the catastrophic damage to the transmission system across Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana, which together provides power to the eastern portion of Texas.
Entergy Texas is pledging US$360,000 to charitable organizations across the region to help rebuild the communities it serves. The company allocated US$200,000 from an American Red Cross Disaster Responder Partnership to directly aid communities impacted by Hurricane Laura. The support will help victims recover and get back on their feet in the challenging weeks and months ahead.
Entergy Texas has pledged another US$160,000 to provide grants to community organizations focused on referral assistance and safety net services for impacted individuals and families, including temporary lodging, food, and clothing for affected families. The Foundation for Southeast Texas, a nonprofit, public charity, will distribute the funds to nonprofits in the local community. Entergy employees are also raising contributions through employee fundraising drives, which Entergy shareholders will match.
"Our customers, employees, and restoration workers who came from across the country to render aid have been incredible during this historic restoration effort," said Sallie Rainer, president and CEO of Entergy Texas. "I can't thank our customers and communities enough for their patience and support as crews worked to safely restore power. Our commitment to our customers doesn't end when we get the lights back on. We will be a part of the rebuilding effort to help our communities come back stronger than ever."
As of Sept. 10, four of the nine major transmission lines that help power Entergy Texas remained out of service as a result of significant storm damage. A good number of the transmission structures within these lines were damaged beyond repair and required complete replacement.
The transmission system plays a critical role in delivering power from power plants to the lines serving customers’ neighborhoods. The damage from Hurricane Laura has eliminated much of the redundancy built into the transmission system, which makes it difficult to move power around the region to customers. Laura's damage to Entergy's transmission system has surpassed that of Hurricane Gustav that hit Louisiana and Hurricane Ike that hit Texas in 2008.
While transmission structures are being repaired, Entergy Texas' engineering and operations groups are working closely, along with the company's reliability coordinator MISO, to ensure the safe and stable operation of the electric grid.
