Entergy Corp.’s challenge in restoring power after Hurricane Ida extends well beyond New Orleans as it repairs widespread wind damage to much of its transmission system.
Rod West, Entergy’s group president of utility operations, said Monday that 207 transmission lines traversing more than 2,000 miles are out of service in Louisiana and Mississippi. About 900,000 customers are without power, and the company expects the number to increase as the storm moves through Mississippi.
Mr. West said that the company started assessing damage Monday with drones, helicopters and workers on the ground as the storm moved away from the coast. It initially gave customers a three-week estimate for how long power restoration might take, but Mr. West said repairs could go faster—or slower—depending on location.
“The hard part is that the geography is a rather wide swath,” Mr. West said. “That three weeks is not going to apply to everybody the same way.”
He anticipates a number of transmission towers needing repairs or complete replacements. “It’ll be a mix, because this storm did not discriminate,” he said. “The kind of impact only happens when you have really significant wind that just wreaked havoc.”
