Entergy makes major progress restoring power to Miss. customers after Ida

Since the devastating passage of Hurricane Ida left millions without power in Louisiana and Mississippi, Entergy reports that as of noon EDT Wednesday the majority of its customers in Mississippi have regained electricity and power was restored to 3,500 customers in the Greater New Orleans area.

As of noon Wednesday, some 35,000 Entergy Mississippi customers had regained power, bringing the total without electricity down to approximately 10,700 from an initial 46,000 on Monday. And early Wednesday Entergy crews restored power for some customers in eastern New Orleans with generation supplied by the New Orleans Power Station. 

The company said distribution system damage in Louisiana and Mississippi as of 9 p.m. Tuesday included 5,112 poles, 5,906 transformers and 1,185 spans of wire damaged or destroyed. On Entergy’s transmission system, 68 of 220 affected substations and 44 of 210 affected transmission lines have returned to service. Over 1,600 miles of transmission lines remain out of service.

“While initial service can be provided to some customers, the full restoration will still take time given the significant damage across the region,” Entergy said in a statement. “Crews will have to methodically bring back additional transmission lines over time to provide other pathways for power to enter the region, helping to maintain stability of the system throughout the complete restoration process.”

Since the storm’s peak on Monday, crews have restored power to nearly 137,000 customers, according to the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), As of 9:00 a.m. Wednesday, approximately 1.03 million electricity customers are without power as a result of the hurricane.  Already, more than 25,000 workers from at least 33 states and Washington D.C. are mobilized to assist with the power restoration mission, EEI said.

Damage to the region’s systems was massive, and Entergy confirmed that much of the electric system’s redundancy has been limited by the storm, making it difficult to shift power throughout the area. It has also hamstrung options for powering customers facing equipment failure or the possibility of additional damage to the system. 

According to EEI, on Tuesday afternoon Entergy CEO Leo Denault, Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning, and EEI President Tom Kuhn briefed President Joe Biden, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall, and other senior administration officials on the restoration efforts underway.