News Release > Entergy ready to respond if needed during winter season

Entergy ready to respond if needed during winter season

01/03/2024

Steps taken to winterize critical systems and electric infrastructure

NEW ORLEANS – Entergy’s Louisiana utilities and their dedicated crews and contractors are committed to providing customers with reliable service and are always ready to respond and restore power if needed, even during the winter season. Winter storms and the threats associated with them can develop and move in quickly, and that is why Entergy Louisiana and Entergy New Orleans are encouraging customers to join us in being prepared for whatever Mother Nature brings our way.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center, El Nino will remain in place across the winter season for the first time in four years. The expected results will be wetter and cooler winter months this year, bringing much-needed drought relief to our service area.

Last year, January and February brought major winter weather events to parts of our service area, with high winds, freezing rains, and ice accumulation. February and December of 2022 saw similar conditions, and the winter season of 2021 saw the coldest outbreak in the U.S. in more than 30 years.

While weather can be unpredictable, we remain storm ready no matter the season.

Entergy is committed to performing necessary winterization measures and other seasonal assessments on our power plants, transmission lines and facilities, and any other equipment and assets that can be affected by the cold. This includes inspecting and maintaining substations and transmission lines and testing equipment to identify any potential equipment performance issues.

When a weather threat arises, Entergy ramps up support:

• We use forecasts and computer models based on experience with previous storms to predict an estimated number and duration of outages that could possibly occur.
• Based on those estimates, the company calls on restoration workers from around the country to restore power as safely and quickly as possible for our customers.
• Entergy New Orleans and Entergy Louisiana continuously plan and improve 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.

Customers should prepare now

Being prepared for possible winter weather 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.  

Entergy Louisiana and Entergy New Orleans encourage customers to verify their contact information in their online myEntergy account before severe weather strikes, so they 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.

About Entergy Louisiana

Entergy Louisiana, LLC provides electric service to more than 1 million customers in 58 parishes and natural gas service to more than 94,000 customers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

About Entergy New Orleans

Entergy New Orleans, LLC is an electric and gas utility that serves Louisiana’s Orleans Parish. The company provides electricity to more than 209,000 customers and natural gas to more than 110,000 customers.

Both companies are subsidiaries of Entergy Corporation, a Fortune 500 company that powers life for 3 million customers through operating companies in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. We’re investing in the reliability and resilience of the energy system while helping our region transition to cleaner, more efficient energy solutions. With roots in our communities for more than 100 years, Entergy is a nationally recognized leader in sustainability and corporate citizenship. Since 2018, we have delivered more than $100 million in economic benefits each year to local communities through philanthropy, volunteerism and advocacy. Entergy is headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, and has approximately 12,000 employees.