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Insights > Entergy generators sustained historic electricity usage during recent cold spells
Entergy generators sustained historic electricity usage during recent cold spells
02/06/2024
It only took a few short weeks into the new year for Entergy’s communities, customers and teams to face a brutal challenge at the hands of Mother Nature. A nationwide arctic blast ushered in snow, sleet, ice and freezing temperatures across Entergy’s service territory, yet the power grid remained resilient.
Entergy’s electric grid sustained its highest ever winter peak load during recent winter storms, meaning customers used more electricity at a given point in time than ever before during cold-weather months. Entergy Arkansas customers exceeded their previous all-time peak load, and Entergy Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi experienced peaks that exceeded the highs set during the winter of 2021, which saw one of the most damaging winter storms we’ve experienced.
Despite the record-breaking power usage earlier this month, Entergy’s fleet provided enough generation to meet the energy load and sustained reserves well above real-time power demand. The interconnecting transmission system, which moves electricity from our generators to your communities for use, remained secure.
While severe storms did cause localized outages, Entergy crews responded quickly to minimize customer impacts. In Arkansas, the hardest-hit state in Entergy’s service territory, over 1,000 resources were activated for storm response to safely restore more than 80,000 customers, amid treacherous road conditions. In Louisiana, crews and contractors safely brought approximately 19,000 customers back online after waves of steady wind and freezing rain rolled through the region. In Southeast Texas, power generation remained in surplus to consistently provide communities with electricity who experienced temperatures 20 to 30 degrees below normal.
The systemwide power generation and delivery performance during the cold spell is a reflection of the investments and planning done over the past year combined with a continued focus on operational excellence. It builds upon Entergy’s performance in 2023, which achieved its best generation fleet performance in over a decade, despite a summer of record-breaking heat. Not only were we able to keep our customers powered through extreme conditions, but we also helped economically export power to the MISO North/Central regions through the majority of 2023.
Bill management resources
Entergy is committed to helping our customers before, during and after extreme weather, which is why we offer a variety of bill payment assistance and energy efficiency programs to help customers stay comfortable and keep their bill affordable.
We offer several billing and payment options to fit your needs. Choose when, where and how you pay your utility bill with our bill management resources, which include:
- Understanding my bill: We redesigned the Entergy bill to help make it easier to understand. Learn more at entergy.com/bill.
- Level billing: We average bills over a rolling 12-month period, so you have a more consistent bill each month of the year. Enroll at myentergy.com/s/levelbill.
- Pick-A-Date: Choose what day of the month you get billed to line up with your budget and cash flow. Learn more at myentergy.com/s/pickdate.
- PaperFREE: Get your bill delivered directly to your email as soon as it posts. Learn more at myentergy.com/s/paperfree.
- AutoPay: Avoid late fees, writing checks and paying for postage by having your bills automatically deducted from your bank account. Learn more at myentergy.com/s/autopay.
Resources for customers in need
For customers experiencing financial hardship, we offer a variety of bill assistance options, including:
- The Power to Care: Through a network of nonprofit agencies, The Power to Care helps pay utility bills of those facing extreme temperatures with no way to stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Learn more at myentergy.com/s/powertocare.
- Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program: Funded through the federal government, LIHEAP helps low-income households meet their home energy costs by making payments on the customers’ behalf directly to energy suppliers. Visit entergy.com/bill-help to learn how to apply for assistance.
- Deferred payment: Talk with us about your situation and we may be able to make deferred payment arrangements. Request a deferred payment arrangement through myEntergy or by calling 1-800-ENTERGY (1-800-368-3749) and following our automated response system menu.
- Payment extension: Qualifying customers who need a few extra days to pay their bill can request an extension through myEntergy or by calling 1-800-ENTERGY (1-800-368-3749) and following our automated response system menu.
The Entergy app is also available for Android and iPhone operating systems at entergy.com/app and can be used for your convenience to pay bills, monitor your usage and more.
