Service restored to Entergy Texas customers affect by rotating outages after Hurricane Laura
FILE PHOTO. Employees of Entergy electric (Photo credit should read SETH HERALD/AFP via Getty Images)
HOUSTON - Entergy Texas says service has been restored to customers who were affected by rotating outages following Hurricane Laura.
According to Entergy's outage map, over 90,000 Montgomery county residents were without power after Hurricane Laura made landfall on Thursday.
Entergy says the power outages were happening to prevent a more extensive and prolonged power outage that could affect the power grid.
Entergy reported Hurricane Laura caused extensive damage to its transmission system, and there was anticipated high demand for electricity due to high temperatures.
On Friday, Stuart Barrett, vice president of customer service, said the company’s reliability coordinator, MISO, cancelled its order for periodic power outages in the Entergy Texas region. Service was then restored to those affected by the rotating outages.
“I understand many of our customers were affected by these outages and how inconvenient and frustrating it can be,” Barrett said in a message on Entergy’s website. “In an emergency situation like this, there was no notice provided to Entergy of the pending outage and thus no way for us to inform our customers in advance of the outages. I assure you that these steps were only a last resort measure taken to ensure the overall stability of the electric grid. Since yesterday, Entergy Texas continues to take steps to improve the integrity of the electric grid.”
Customers still experiencing an outage, are asked to call 1-800-ENTERGY.
According to Entergy, crews were able to place a high voltage power line back into service Thursday night, providing an additional connection to the power grid. The company said this provides another path for power to flow and improves stability into the transmission grid.
Entergy has also started up units at another power plant along the Texas/Louisiana state line that suffered minimal damage from Hurricane Laura. This will allow the company to serve additional load.
Entergy says the transmission system suffered significant damage from the hurricane, and the transmission grid remains fragile.
“We are working closely with MISO to ensure the stability of our system. We currently do not anticipate rotating outages to be required, however, we are not at normal reliability levels on our system but are working to continue restoration efforts,” the message from Barrett said. “I want to thank our customers for their patience during a difficult time for our region. We continue to work tirelessly to restore customers following Laura’ devastation in our area, and we are committed to doing everything we can to deliver safe, reliable service for our customers.”
On Thursday, Entergy asked customers to reduce their electricity usage by raising central air thermostats to 78 degrees, use energy-efficient electric ceiling fans, delaying laundering clothes and dishwashing.
The Conroe Fire Department rescued people trapped in an elevator inside a doctor's office that lost power.