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Insights > Entergy Arkansas prepares for wintry weather
Entergy Arkansas prepares for wintry weather
01/07/2025
Entergy Arkansas employees have been preparing this week for a potential round of wintry weather. With the possibility of ice, snow, and/or freezing rain starting Thursday night and lasting through the day on Friday, our crews are ready to serve you.
We’re storm ready, 365 days a year
To ensure our company is prepared for the winter weather ahead we continue to implement unique readiness plans at each power plant and review measures taken with transmission lines and transmission facilities, while reviewing critical systems and infrastructure preparedness across the grid.
When a weather threat arises, we ramp up support. We use forecasts and computer models based on experience with previous storms to predict damages and associated restoration resource needs. Based on those estimates, the company may call on restoration workers from around the country if needed to aid in restoring power safely and quickly for our customers. Entergy continuously plans and improves the process of assessing damage, positioning personnel in the right place with the required materials to restore power as safely and quickly as possible.
We take steps to maintain and control vegetation across our service area, completing annual clearing of right-of-way areas to minimize the impact from fallen trees or branches following a storm. Prior to storms impacting our area, vegetation crews perform pre-storm patrols of circuits to mitigate any imminent threats within the right of way. Our year-round storm preparations include the vegetation management program and the targeted “ground to sky” vegetation trimming, which removes tree limbs that would normally have been above the power line. We also use artificial intelligence and satellite imagery to help predict when trimming may be needed.
Ice is particularly harmful to electrical lines
Heavy snow and ice can bring down power lines. In fact, ice can increase the weight of branches by 30 times. In fact, only one-half inch of ice can add 500 pounds of weight on power lines, as well as tree limbs which could then fall onto power lines and people. It's safest to avoid the area near ice-laden power lines and tree limbs. Extreme cold can make materials like wood and metal brittle.
Sometimes, ice can impact transmission lines and cause them to "gallop," which can result in a power outage. This is a slow, "skipping rope" motion of power lines that occurs when rain freezes to the power lines, and then steady winds cause adjacent lines to move and sometimes contact one another.
Restoring power in extreme cold is different
The restoration process is done in an orderly, deliberate manner. As soon as it's safe to work, our crews start turning the lights back on for our customers. Restoration efforts begin as scouts start assessing the storm's damage, and crews start needed repairs at the source and work outward. Certain types of work, such as repairs requiring the use of bucket trucks, cannot be safely completed when winds exceed 30 miles per hour.
When temperatures are extremely cold, we must bring customers back online one section at a time, rather than simply energizing an entire power line all at once. Restoring all customers on the same power line simultaneously can create large, instantaneous power demands. The instant demand is different than day-to-day operations and could be higher than the built-in protective devices on lines were designed to handle. This is done for the safety of our customers, and to avoid damaging our system or making the situation worse.
Customers can help, too
During a winter storm, many customers leave their heating systems and appliances turned on. If your power goes out, when power returns there may be too much energy demand on the grid all at once. This can cause additional problems. Customers without power can help by turning off major appliances. Leave on a lamp or other light to indicate when power is restored, then gradually turn on other appliances to spread out the increase in power usage over a longer period of time.
Customers should prepare now
Being prepared can help keep you safe. Get ready before weather threatens your area by having an emergency plan in place. Find safekeeping resources on our Storm Center:
- Get prepared: Make a plan, make a kit.
- Prepare your home: Winterize inside and out.
- Your mobile phone: A lifeline during a disaster.
- Stay informed: Download the app, report an outage.
- Stay safe: Safety after the storm.
- Generator safety: Know the hazards.
- Gas safety: Know the signs.
- Extreme cold safety: Indoor and outdoor tips.
Verify your contact information in your online myEntergy account before severe weather strikes, so you receive our notifications. If a storm impacts your area, you can report an outage quickly and easily through our digital options – using either our free mobile app, online at myEntergy.com or by texting OUT to 36778.
