America’s power companies responding to Ida
As day broke this morning, dozens of power companies from around the nation started the arduous task of helping their colleagues in Louisiana and Mississippi assess the damage wrought on Sunday by Hurricane Ida, one of the nation’s strongest storms to make landfall as a Category 4 hurricane.
While Hurricane Ida has been downgraded to a tropical storm, its strength continues to make it an extremely dangerous system moving northeast. And as of 10 a.m. EDT Monday, nearly 1.2 million electricity customers were without power in Louisiana and Mississippi combined, according to the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), which represents the nation’s investor-owned utilities (IOUs).
Hurricane Ida made landfall Aug. 29 at 11:55 CDT near Port Fourchon, La., with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph. Ida was one of the strongest storms to make landfall in Louisiana and retained hurricane status nearly to Mississippi.
Entergy Corp., the New Orleans-based IOU delivering electricity to three million utility customers in Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Texas, said Monday that its customers in the hardest-hit areas could experience power outages for weeks. Earlier this morning, Entergy reported that it had almost 900,000 power outages in Louisiana due to Ida’s destruction and more than 45,000 in Mississippi as the storm continues through the state today.
In Louisiana, Hurricane Ida’s catastrophic intensity brought down Entergy’s eight major transmission lines that deliver power into the New Orleans area, which is now currently without power. As of this morning, Entergy said that across its service area, 216 substations, 207 transmission lines, and more than 2,000 miles of transmission lines are out of service.
“We know of one transmission line that spans the Mississippi River that is down,” according to a company statement. “Where weather permitted, our crews were out at first light today assessing damage where it was safe to do so. This will help us get a better idea of what we’re dealing with. It would be premature to speculate at this time when power will be restored given the extent of the damage.”
Entergy Mississippi tweeted earlier Monday that as high winds from Ida continued, “our crews assess damage and restore power when it is safe to do so. Certain types of work, such as repairs requiring the use of bucket trucks, cannot be safely completed when winds exceed 30 miles per hour.” After a storm strikes, the company then follows “a proven plan to restore power as safely and quickly as possible.”
Mississippi Power, an IOU and a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Company producing energy for more than 190,000 customers in 23 southeast Mississippi counties, reported more than 5,300 customer outages as of 1:40 p.m. EDT Monday, but tweeted that it has “a safe and efficient storm plan that has been implemented to restore power to our customers following Hurricane #Ida.”
“We have more than 1,000 outside resources assisting us and will continue to work around the clock until every customer who can receive power is restored,” according to the company.
Mississippi Power President and CEO Anthony Wilson on Friday said the company was “prepared to use every resource available to restore service to our customers as quickly and safely as possible,” and was working from its Storm Center, which allows the utility’s Storm Team leadership to monitor the path of the storm and the company’s restoration effort from one location. Operations, logistics, safety, communications, and other departments all are working from the site, Wilson said.
“Every Mississippi Power employee has a storm role, and each one stands ready to respond to our customers’ needs,” added Tommy Murphy, vice president of customer service and operations for Mississippi Power. “These employees are storm-tested and are ready to work.”
Mutual assistance activated
Assessing damage and restoring power may take several days or more in some areas, EEI said in a statement released Monday.
“In some cases, power restoration will require rebuilding energy infrastructure. Flooding creates a unique and dangerous restoration environment and can delay initial assessment efforts,” said EEI. “In the hardest-hit areas, search and rescue and life safety will be the top priority. Crews will not be able to use certain equipment, including bucket trucks, until high winds subside.”
Electric companies in the path of Ida on Friday strategically prepositioned equipment, resources and mutual assistance workers from other states to assist in their storm response.
“Mutual assistance is a hallmark of the electric power industry,” said EEI, which noted that already, more than 25,000 workers from at least 32 states and the District of Columbia currently are mobilized to support power restoration efforts in Louisiana.
For instance, Georgia Power crews and personnel today are assisting Mississippi Power with restoration efforts following Hurricane Ida. “We are working as quickly and safely as possible to get the lights back on as Ida continues inland,” the company tweeted.
Florida Power & Light Co. also deployed more than 750 employees and contractors to support power restoration efforts in Louisiana.
“As Floridians who have faced dangerous hurricanes like Andrew and Michael before, we understand how critical it is to have support from other utilities during restoration events,” said Eric Silagy, president and CEO of Florida Power & Light. “Just as our neighboring utilities have come to Florida to support us, we will be there for our brothers and sisters in need, getting their communities back up and running safely.”
EEI’s team also is closely coordinating with the electric companies, public power utilities, and rural electric cooperatives in the path of Hurricane Ida.
Additionally, EEI said that workers are following additional safety protocols required by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to keep customers and crews safe.
