Mississippi linemen among those honored for ice storm restoration

Jackson, Miss. – Entergy Corporation has won the Edison Electric Institute’s Emergency Recovery Award for outstanding efforts in restoring power following a major ice storm last year in Arkansas.

EEI’s Emergency Recovery Award is presented annually to recognize outstanding efforts in restoring electric service that has been disrupted by severe weather conditions or other natural events.

Entergy was recognized for restoring power to more than 111,000 Arkansas customers affected by the January 2009 storm. More than 200 Entergy Mississippi linemen and support crews were part of the effort.

“The dedicated workers at Entergy Mississippi, our sister companies in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas, and utilities and contracting companies around the country are the heroes that made this award possible,” said Haley Fisackerly, president and chief executive officer of Entergy Mississippi, Inc. “I am extremely proud of what they accomplished under such adverse conditions.”

Entergy is the only company to be honored every year since the awards were first presented in 1998.

“Entergy is honored to receive this award from EEI recognizing our efforts to restore service to our customers,” said Randy Helmick, Entergy’s “storm boss” and vice president of energy delivery. “I am extremely proud of the way our team demonstrated our creed that safety is a core value while successfully restoring service to our Arkansas customers.”

“Entergy had more than 3,500 restoration workers from 15 states overcome dangerous conditions to promptly restore service in mountainous and rural areas with limited accessibility,” said Helmick. “They compiled 991,000 man-hours of work.”

The 2009 ice storm was the most destructive ice storm in Arkansas in modern history. It heavily damaged Entergy Arkansas, Inc.’s electric infrastructure, including 71 transmission-line-section outages that affected 64 substations and destroyed 274 transmission structures. More than 4,800 poles, 712 transformers and 4,253 cross arms were damaged or destroyed.

“Most importantly, our workers took the time to do it right and remembered that safety is the most important aspect of any restoration,” Helmick added. “That was extremely valuable in ensuring off-system crews understood and adhered to our processes.”

“Entergy’s emergency preparedness plan staved off what could have been a vastly more difficult restoration effort,” said EEI President Tom Kuhn. “Their comprehensive approach to reversing infrastructure damage was a great example of how the entire electric power industry responds following such an event.”

The Emergency Recovery Award and the Emergency Assistance Award are presented annually by EEI to U.S. and foreign-based member companies. The Recovery Award recognizes exceptional efforts in restoring electric service by a company in its service territory. Winners of the award were chosen by a panel of judges following an international nomination process. Awards were presented March 2 during EEI’s Spring CEO meetings.

Entergy Mississippi, Inc. provides electricity to more than 433,000 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.

-30-
entergy-mississippi.com
Twitter: @EntergyMediaMS