Entergy prepared for winter weather
Entergy Mississippi Prepared for Winter Weather
Company ready should severe weather cause Mississippi outages
Entergy Mississippi, Inc. is ready to respond to any power outages that could be caused by the wintry weather mix moving into the state.
“The weather system is dynamic, and although it is not a major winter storm, freezing rain and ice accumulation can pose a significant threat to an electric system,” said Robbin Jeter, director of transmission and distribution for Entergy Mississippi, Inc. “We’re leaving nothing to chance. Our crews are prepared if severe weather strikes.”
Entergy officials have been working with the company’s weather vendors in advance of the storm to better understand the potential risk and prepare accordingly.
“Due to the uncertainty of the weather forecast, we’re preparing for a potential ice event in the central and southern portions of our service area,” said Jeter. “We’ve contacted our local contractors and put them on notice that we may call them for help. Our crews in the northern part of the state and the delta region are prepared to move to these areas Friday morning if needed.”
When planning which work will be done first following a storm, Entergy Mississippi places top priority on restoring service to facilities considered critical. These include hospitals, fire stations, police departments and other public facilities. After critical infrastructure has been restored, crews do the work that will get the largest numbers of customers on as quickly as possible.
Entergy urges customers to monitor the storm and prepare to implement their own storm plans if needed.
The cold temperatures will also drive increased electricity usage. As in any severe weather event, Entergy also encourages customers to conserve energy and reminds them of the top five energy savers:
· Adjust the thermostat. During winter months, set the thermostat to 68 degrees. Every degree higher will add approximately three percent to your bill.
· Conserve hot water. Wrap your electric water heater with a water heater blanket and set the thermostat to 120 degrees, or medium.
· Replace air and furnace filters every 30 days.
· Use energy-efficient bulbs when replacing light bulbs. Entergy recommends Energy Star-qualified compact fluorescent light bulbs that use approximately 75 percent less energy and last up to 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs.
· Seal air leaks. Use weather stripping around doors, windows and any location where there’s a path from the inside of your home to the outside.
As well, Entergy urges all customers with a power outage or a downed power line to report it by calling 1-800 9OUTAGE (1-800 968-8243) toll free. Remember that live wires can be deadly, so stay away from downed power lines. Storm preparedness tips and much more information is available at Entergy’s website at Entergy.com.
Other online services that can help in times of storms are My Account Anywhere and View Outages. My Account Anywhere lets customers send and receive text information about power outages through their cell phones. Customers can also receive alerts about outages at their homes and businesses. To use the service, customers must register a cell phone number to their Entergy account. Registration is simple. From any text-capable cell phone, send the message “reg” (without quotes) to 368374. The system will respond and ask for an Entergy account number and ZIP code. Anyone with Internet access can go to Entergy.com, click on “View Outages” and see where outages are occurring down to the street level. Customers can also get storm-related information by following Entergy Mississippi’s Twitter account: @EntergyMediaMS.
Entergy Mississippi, Inc. provides electricity to more than 437,000 customers in 45 counties. It 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, and it is the second-largest nuclear generator in the United States. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.7 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
