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Township officials receive Entergy briefing

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UPDATE August 28 6:30 p.m.

THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS (August 28, 2020) – The Woodlands Township is forwarding this news announcement from Entergy Texas regarding its restoration efforts after Hurricane Laura.

Announcement from Entergy:

Entergy continues restoration effort

Company makes progress; currently does not expect to call for customer interruptions

BEAUMONT, Texas – Entergy Texas crews continue to make progress to restore outages following the impacts of Hurricane Laura’s destructive storm surge, wind and flooding. More than 7,000 people have been mobilized across Southeast Texas to complete Entergy Texas’ restoration efforts. At its peak, Entergy Texas experienced 291,000 outages, with the hardest-hit areas in Jefferson, Orange and Hardin counties.

Hurricane Laura also significantly damaged transmission lines connecting Texas to the broader electric grid resulting in an order by MISO, our reliability coordinator, to begin rotating outages for customers. Last night, crews made significant repairs to transmission lines across the Entergy Texas region that will improve the stability of the transmission system. Additionally, Entergy Texas was able to start up units at a power plant along the Texas/Louisiana state line. While this power plant was in the direct path of Hurricane Laura, it suffered minimal damage and crews were able to complete the start up this morning. This adds generation to the Texas area that allows us to serve additional load.

Currently, we do not anticipate rotating outages to be required. Our restoration efforts will continue to improve our system reliability.

PHOTO: Entergy Power Outage Map as of August 29 8:40 a.m.

“Yesterday was a tough day for our customers,” said Sallie Rainer, president and CEO of Entergy Texas. “I want to thank our customers and apologize for any additional disruption these outages have caused. While we were spared the worst of Laura, the damage it did cause forced us to take these rolling outages as a last resort to stabilize the broader grid. We are working to restore customers affected by Laura as quickly as is safely possible.”

While we continue to assess damage in the hardest hit areas, Entergy Texas has determined expected restoration efforts for areas affected by Hurricane Laura for all customers who can take power. These times may change if crews find additional damage.

Silsbee and Beaumont are expected to be restored by the end of Sunday, August 30

The majority of Port Arthur, with the exception of part of Groves, should also be restored by the end of Sunday, August 30. The remaining customers in Groves should be restored by Monday, August 31.

The Orange area suffered the most extensive damage and we continue to assess the area. We believe the majority of customers in Orange will be restored by Friday, September 4. Some areas may experience longer outages due to extensive transmission line damage. We will provide additional details as we fully assess the area.

Crews continue to work across the area to assess damage and complete restorations. In addition to the 7,000 workers, Entergy has 6 staging sites in Orange, Port Arthur and Beaumont areas to base our operations.

Additionally, customers are urged to remain cautious, as scammers are working to take advantage of customers affected by Laura, threatening disconnection of service and asking for immediate payment over the phone. Entergy will never ask for personal information over the phone or demand payment using money orders or gift cards. You can visit entergy.com/scams to learn how to protect yourself.

Stay Informed

Entergy will keep customers informed throughout the company’s response. Here is how customers can get information:

Download the Entergy App at entergyapp.com. Customers can use the app to report outages or check on the status of power at their home or business.

Entergy’s View Outages website includes maps that show where outages are located and give information about restoration progress.

Sign up for text alerts by texting REG to 36778 and have your account number and ZIP code handy. The registration pattern is as follows including spaces: REG (account number) (ZIP code). Once registered, text OUT to 36778 to report an outage. You can also report an outage online as a guest.

The Entergy Storm Center website has storm safety, preparation and restoration information that is updated throughout the day.

Operation: Storm Ready Guide is a free downloadable guide that helps customers plan and prepare for weather emergencies.

Follow us on Social Media

Social media plays an important role in keeping customers informed, and the company places a high priority on updating its social media channels throughout an event. Customers can follow Entergy on Facebook and Twitter.

Entergy Texas, Inc. provides electricity to approximately 461,000 customers in 27 counties. 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, including 8,000 megawatts of nuclear power. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.9 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of $11 billion and approximately 13,600 employees.

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UPDATE August 28 1 p.m.

Officials with The Woodlands Township have been communicating consistently with Entergy officials regarding power outages experienced on Thursday, August 27, 2020 by residents and businesses in The Woodlands.

Entergy experienced significant damage to segments of their transmission lines which ultimately affected all customers including those in The Woodlands. Entergy serves the Town Center and all The Woodlands Villages in Montgomery County and a portion of residents in the Village of Sterling Ridge.

“We are communicating diligently with Entergy and their restoration efforts,” said Township Chairman Gordy Bunch. “Entergy has said it does not anticipate any more periodic power outages and we look forward to seeing additional information throughout the day.”

Statement from Entergy as of Noon, Friday, August 28, 2020
The storm disrupted electrical service for 291,300 Entergy Texas customers.  The Orange County and Port Arthur/Beaumont areas were heavily damaged, with significant outages extending north into Hardin County. 

Damage assessment could take up to three days. Our scouts are assessing damage to determine the exact cause of your outage and how long it will take to correct the problem.  While we are assessing damage, we will continue restoring service where it is safe to do so.  We’ll be better prepared to give an estimated time to restore your power after the full assessment is completed.  We are assessing the damage to our system caused by this storm.  We know you want your power restored and we have started the process.  As we begin restoring power to critical services, we begin to assess damage and put in place our restoration plan that will restore service to the greatest number of our customers as safely and quickly as possible.  We use advanced technology, like infrared cameras, drones and satellite imagery to assess damage by foot, vehicles, airboats, highwater vehicles and helicopters.

Our transmission system suffered significant damage as a result of Hurricane Laura 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.  We 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.

Around midnight last night, our reliability coordinator, MISO, cancelled its order for periodic power outages in the Entergy Texas region.  Shortly after this, Entergy Texas returned all customers who were affected by these rotating outages back in service.  We understand many of our customers were affected by these outages and how inconvenient and frustrating it can be.  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.  Rest assured 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.

Last night, crews were able to place a high voltage power line back into service, which provides an additional connection to the power grid.  This provides another path for power to flow and improves stability into the Texas transmission grid.  In addition, we also have started up units at Sabine Station, our power plant along the Texas/Louisiana state line.  While this power plant was in the direct path of Hurricane Laura, it suffered minimal damage and crews were able to complete the start up this morning.  This adds additional generation to the Texas area that allows us to serve more load.

Given the intensity of this storm and the additional need for our crews to follow COVID-19 precautionary measures, hardest hit areas may experience longer outages.  We continue acquiring more resources for our restoration teams, with nearly 10,000 currently ready to restore service for customers whose power may be affected by Laura.  These resources include company employees, contractors and mutual aid resources and can be relocated as needed to restore service to affected customers.   Restoration workers are coming from 20 states including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin and West Virginia.

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ORIGINAL – THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS (August 28, 2020) – Officials with The Woodlands Township received a briefing from Entergy officials late Thursday evening to discuss the power outages experienced by residents and businesses in The Woodlands on Thursday.

Around midnight, Entergy’s reliability coordinator, MISO, cancelled its order for periodic power outages in the Entergy Texas region. Shortly after this, Entergy Texas returned all customers who were affected by these rotating outages back in service. Through the night, Entergy Texas continued to take steps to improve the integrity of the electric grid.

Entergy experienced significant damage to segments of their transmission lines which ultimately affected all customers including those in The Woodlands.

“We are communicating diligently with Entergy and their restoration efforts,” said Township Chairman Gordy Bunch. “Entergy has said it does not anticipate any more periodic power outages and we look forward to seeing additional information throughout the day.”

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Statement from Entergy Texas:

Restore Critical Transmission Connections
Last night, crews were able to place a high voltage power line back into service, which provides an additional connection to the power grid. This provides another path for power to flow and improves stability into the transmission grid.

Adding Generation to Provide Additional Power
We also have started up units at Sabine Station, our power plant along the Texas/Louisiana state line. While this power plant was in the direct path of Hurricane Laura, it suffered minimal damage and crews were able to complete the start up this morning. This adds a generation to the Texas area that allows us to serve additional load.

Our transmission system suffered significant damage as a result of Hurricane Laura 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. We are working to continue restoration efforts.

The Township will continue to provide updates as received.

Source: The Woodlands Township

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