Representatives from Entergy Mississippi joined emergency management officials, elected leaders, utilities and other storm response organizations at the Mississippi Public Service Commission's "From Recovery to Resilience: Mississippi Storm Preparedness Summit," where participants reviewed the state's response to the Winter Storm Fern that struck Mississippi in late January.

The two-day event, held in Tupelo, brought together emergency management agencies, city officials, nonprofit organizations and utility representatives to discuss lessons learned from the storm and strategies to improve preparedness for future severe weather events.

Sessions featured meteorologists, cybersecurity specialists, emergency management officials, local leaders and utility experts. Topics included mutual aid coordination, county recovery efforts and crisis leadership during large-scale emergencies.

Jay Luckey, senior manager of operations and construction for Entergy Mississippi, presented a session on strengthening emergency preparedness and response. He outlined the utility's restoration effort, covering activities from pre-storm planning through power restoration. His presentation highlighted the role of mutual aid crews and temporary base camps, as well as the scale of the response in terms of storm damage, customer outages and personnel deployed.

Luckey said the widespread nature of the storm across the region made it more difficult to secure assistance from neighboring utilities because surrounding states were also responding to the winter weather event. As a result, restoration workers came from 23 states and Canada to assist with recovery efforts.

He also described operational challenges that crews encountered, including difficult terrain, icy roads and maintaining heated base camps while preventing water systems from freezing in extreme cold.

Among the lessons identified were the importance of requesting mutual aid resources early when widespread storms are expected, preparing base camps for prolonged cold-weather operations, expanding access to off-road equipment and maintaining strong relationships with response partners.

Luckey also pointed to the community of Rolling Fork as an example of grid hardening efforts. After the town's infrastructure was rebuilt following the March 2023 tornado, the upgraded electric system experienced limited damage during the 2026 winter storm. According to Luckey, only three of the newly installed poles required replacement after the storm.

He also discussed Superpower Mississippi, Entergy Mississippi's five-year grid reliability investment program, which is intended to strengthen the electric system, reduce the frequency and duration of outages and improve resilience during future storms.

In addition to the presentation, Entergy Mississippi hosted an informational exhibit during the summit, providing attendees with educational materials and opportunities to connect with utility representatives and other emergency response organizations.