Little Rock, Ark. – Entergy Arkansas,
Inc. is working to restore power to about 14,029 customers in south Arkansas
that have lost power, so far, in a winter storm that entered the state today.
Winter storm outages are typically
caused by accumulation of ice and snow on power lines, utility poles and tree
limbs.
For the last several days Entergy
Arkansas planners have been monitoring weather forecasts and allocating
resources accordingly. The company is prepared to repair widespread damage
should the winter storm prove as destructive as projections indicated it could
be.
As of late Friday afternoon, the bulk
of the outages were in the areas of Pine Bluff, Hot Springs, and Malvern. North
Arkansas, which was devastated by an ice storm one year ago, appears to have
been spared the ice damage this time around, getting snow instead.
The National Weather Service in North
Little Rock issued a winter storm watch for much of Arkansas Friday.
When planning which work will be done
first, following a storm, Entergy Arkansas places top priority on restoring
service to facilities that would be considered critical infrastructure, such as
hospitals, fire stations, police departments and other public facilities. After
critical infrastructure has been restored to the degree possible, the objective
is to do the work that will get the largest numbers of customers on the most
quickly.
Entergy Arkansas urges all customers
with a power outage to report it by calling 1-800 9OUTAGE (1-800 968-8243).
Storm preparedness tips and much more information is available at Entergy’s Web
site at entergy.com
Other online services available 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.
The following tips should be helpful
for individuals in the path of a winter storm:
-
Live wires can be deadly. Stay away
from downed power lines.
-
Don’t trim trees or remove debris
on or near downed power lines. Only power company crews or their contractors
should remove trees or limbs touching power lines.
-
Keep away from metal fences and
other objects that can become energized if they come in contact with downed
power lines.
-
Keep away from the immediate areas
where crews are working. Stay away from heavy utility equipment. Beware of the
possibility of construction materials or limbs or overhead wires falling to
the ground.
-
If you plan on using a generator
for temporary power, get a licensed electrician to set up the connection and
disconnect from the utility electric system before hooking up to your home
main electric panel.
-
Do not run a generator in a
confined space without adequate ventilation.
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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entergy-arkansas.com
Twitter: @EntergyMediaArk
