Entergy Louisiana Opens Customer Information Centers

08/18/2016

CONTACT

Michael Burns
504-576-4132
mburns@entergy.com

Kacee Kirschvink
504-576-4132
kkirsch@entergy.com

Three Centers Opening in Areas Hit Hardest by Historic Flood

BATON ROUGE, La. – Entergy Louisiana has opened centers to provide information for customers who have questions on how to get service restored to their flood-damaged homes or businesses.

Unprecedented flooding caused extensive damage to some areas of Gonzales, Denham Springs and Baton Rouge. Customers in those communities with questions on how to get service restored to their homes or businesses can now visit one of the customer information centers opened Friday by Entergy Louisiana. The centers will be staffed with experienced customer service representatives.

Customers in the Denham Springs area can go to the Entergy Louisiana Service Center at 300 Julia St. In the Gonzales area, customers can visit the Entergy Louisiana Service Center at 1619 South Burnside St. Both centers will be open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Starting at 10 a.m. Saturday, customers can visit the Entergy information center at the Central Branch Library, 11260 Joor Road. The center will be open each day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. except Sunday, when it will be open from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

To find the location of the closest information center, customers can call 1-800-968-8243, select Option 7 and enter their ZIP code.

Crews are continuing to walk through neighborhoods, inspecting electrical equipment and working to re-energize lines where it is safe to do so.

The pace of restoration has slowed as customers who had floodwaters in their homes or businesses may have to make repairs to their electrical system before power can be restored.

Entergy crews are continuing to inspect all meters and other electrical equipment – such as transformers and fuses – for customers in the Baton Rouge, Denham Springs and Gonzales areas whose homes or businesses were not flooded. Power cannot be restored until all meters are inspected on a circuit as well as other devices, such as transformers and fuses.

If a customer’s meter has been removed or deactivated because of water damage, Entergy will communicate with the customer about the measures that have taken place. Customers should refer to the outage map at entergystormcenter.com for updated restoration times.

Customers with flooded or damaged homes should remember the following guidelines, which have been developed with the safety of customers and Entergy employees in mind and considering the hardships that many customers are enduring.

Did water at your home or office reach the outside electric meter?

If so, Entergy will remove the electric meter.
You may need city inspections once work is completed to turn the power back on.
After this is done, call Entergy at 1-800-368-3749 for a reconnect. When we receive permits, we will reinstall service to the facility.

Did the water level rise above your electrical outlets but stop below the electric meter?

If you are present when Entergy arrives:

Entergy will advise you to turn off your main breaker and have repairs made. You will then need to turn your main breaker back on when repairs are complete.
For your safety, Entergy suggests that a qualified electrician inspect electrical equipment inside of the facility or home, even if your city or parish does not require an inspection. If the breaker is turned on before such inspections, you may cause personal injury or property damage.

If you are not present when Entergy arrives:

Entergy will disconnect the electric meter, and it will remain in place. You will not have power at this point.
For your safety, Entergy suggests that a qualified electrician inspect electrical equipment inside of the facility or home.

Baton Rouge Natural Gas Customers

Entergy gas personnel are currently patrolling areas affected by flooding to assess damage to gas meters and associated facilities. We currently estimate that up to 25,000 Entergy gas meters were submerged during the flood and may need to be replaced.
If your home or business experienced significant flooding, Entergy gas personnel may need to turn off your gas service and remove your gas meter. If your gas meter is removed, a permit will be required to re-establish service.
If one or more of your gas appliances have flooded, contact a licensed plumber or contractor to inspect your system before using the flooded appliance. Don’t try to put a flooded natural gas appliance back in service yourself. You may be required to obtain a permit from your respective city or parish before we can restore your gas service.
If you experience any interruption of your natural gas service, call 1-800-ENTERGY to report a natural gas outage.
Anytime you smell natural gas, or if you hear a blowing or hissing noise, open a window, leave the area immediately and call 1-800-ENTERGY.

Customers are encouraged to download Entergy’s mobile app to access maps and information. For real-time progress on restoration work see the View Outages feature at entergy.com. In addition, online services are available to customers through "Entergy Storm Center," and "myAccount." Through myAccount, customers can sign up to send and receive text information about power outages at their homes and businesses through their cell phones. Registration is easy.

Entergy Louisiana, LLC provides electric service to more than 1 million customers and natural gas service to approximately 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 10,000 megawatts of nuclear power. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.8 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of approximately $11.5 billion and more than 13,000 employees.

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