Entergy Crews Make Rapid Progress

Little Rock, Ark. – Entergy Arkansas, Inc. has restored service to 17,000 of its customers who lost power during an ice storm in Arkansas on Friday.

As of Saturday afternoon, Entergy Arkansas is reporting 13,000 remaining power outages. This is down from a peak of 30,000, which occurred late Friday afternoon.

The largest numbers of remaining outages are in the areas of:

Pine Bluff – 7,835
Malvern – 1,182
Hot Springs – 1,168

Customers who find themselves without power after their neighbors’ service has been restored are asked to call 1-800-9OUTAGE to report that their power is still out. This will make utility workers aware that there are smaller repairs remaining that may have been overlooked.

Weather permitting, Entergy Arkansas should have power restored to the customers in the following areas by the following dates. These estimates are subject to change as the work continues.

• Russellville, Carlisle Helena, Marvell, Hughes, Stuttgart, DeWitt, Batesville, Blytheville - Saturday, 10 p.m.

• Pine Bluff, White Hall, DeWitt, Stuttgart, England, Redfield, Hot Springs, Glenwood - Sunday night.

• Sheridan customers will have power restored by Monday night.

“We are making tremendous progress in our restoration efforts today despite very cold weather and very treacherous road conditions,” said director of operations Brady Aldy, Entergy Arkansas, Inc. “We have adequate workers in the state to handle the number of outages we are experiencing. We had to prepare for a major ice event but are fortunate that many areas of the state were spared from any electrical outages.”

For safety reasons, those whose customer-owned electrical equipment, such as the “weather head” and related conduit, has been damaged must have a licensed electrician make repairs before Entergy Arkansas can reconnect power.

To keep informed of power outages and restoration times, Entergy offers two services to customers who have internet access - “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.

Safety Reminders

Customers are asked to do the following to avoid injury and to facilitate the speedy restoration of power:

• Stay away from any downed power line.

• Do not remove debris from power lines. Assume that they are energized and dangerous, and that anything touching them is also dangerous.

• If using specialized equipment, like a backhoe, to move debris, be mindful of overhead power lines.

• Always follow manufacturer’s instructions for operating portable generators. Running a generator without proper ventilation can cause carbon monoxide poisoning. Having generators wired incorrectly can feed power onto lines where utility crews are working, creating a safety hazard for them.

• Please refrain from approaching utility workers at the job site because these can be dangerous locations and because interruptions will slow their progress.

Entergy Arkansas, Inc. provides electricity to almost 684,000 customers in 63 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, 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.

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Twitter: @EntergyMediaArk