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News Release > Entergy Louisiana Begins Phase Two of a $69M Transmission Infrastructure Upgrade on the West Bank of Jefferson Parish
Entergy Louisiana Begins Phase Two of a $69M Transmission Infrastructure Upgrade on the West Bank of Jefferson Parish
01/01/2018
JEFFERSON, La. – Entergy Louisiana today began work on the second phase of construction of a multi-phase, $69 million upgrade to the electric transmission infrastructure along the Lapalco Boulevard corridor on the West Bank of Jefferson Parish from Bayou Segnette to Harvey.
“The project will not only enhance reliability, but it will also help ensure the availability of affordable power now and into the future to help drive economic growth,” said Melonie Stewart, director of customer service.
The project, which began with preliminary activities in July 2017, will replace all the existing wooden H-frame structures with new single pole steel structures and the existing 115-kilovolt transmission lines with a new high-voltage wire allowing more power to move more reliably and efficiently. In addition, the use of advanced technology will provide added capacity and will allow Entergy to upgrade the lines without having to replace the existing steel lattice structures along Lapalco.
“These advanced upgrades will not only move power more efficiently, but the new structures will also be built to withstand winds of up to 150 mph, creating a stronger, more resilient transmission system,” Stewart said.
Entergy Louisiana will complete the projects, Ninemile-Westwego, Ninemile-Harvey and Ninemile-Barataria, in three phases originating at the Entergy Ninemile Point Plant and ending at the three different West Bank substations – Westwego, Harvey and Barataria.
The first phase of the project, along the Ninemile corridor, began work in September 2017 and will be completed in January 2018. The second phase, along the Lapalco Boulevard corridor, begins today and will be completed by June 2018. The third and final phase of the Ninemile-Westwego and Ninemile-Harvey projects, which includes work along the Central Avenue and the Lapalco corridor to the Harvey substation respectively, is scheduled to start in February 2018 and finish by June 2018. Phase three of the Ninemile-Barataria project, which rebuilds a portion of the transmission line through the Barataria marsh, will begin in the fall of 2018 and be completed by spring 2019.
A safe, accident-free environment for both public and project crews is Entergy Louisiana’s top priority. To ensure the highest level of safety, Entergy Louisiana has developed detailed safety standards to meet the needs of this project and the impacted areas. Furthermore, Entergy Louisiana has developed a proactive and detailed communication plan to keep neighborhoods, businesses, schools and other stakeholders up to date on the project’s progress as well as traffic detours and road closures.
Important and timely information related to the project such as vehicular, pedestrian and bicycle traffic plans, complete with maps and timelines, will be available at www.powertogrowla.com to help the public safely navigate around the work areas. Designated Entergy Louisiana customer service representatives will also be on site during work hours throughout the project and a customer hotline has been established for questions or concerns related to this project. Customers are encouraged to call the Power to Grow Louisiana hotline at 504-365-2973 or email powertogrowla@entergy.com.
A project informational meeting for the impacted businesses along the Lapalco Boulevard will be held 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 24, at the American Legion Hall located at 4101 Patriot St. in Marrero.
Entergy Louisiana, LLC provides electric service to more than 1 million customers and natural gas service to nearly 93,000 customers in the greater Baton Rouge area. With operations in southern, central and northeastern Louisiana, the company is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation.
Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, including nearly 9,000 megawatts of nuclear power. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.9 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of approximately $10.8 billion and nearly 13,000 employees.
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Twitter: @EntergyLA
