Restoring the Power

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Entergy Corporation's hurricane saga, reported in the media's words

A sampling from thousands of news accounts during the Aug. 28-Sept. 30 period, 2005

"Entergy is headquartered in New Orleans - and it is getting ready for catastrophe."

"They are no strangers to electrical disasters. But, Katrina, they say, is a different monster. Louisiana's primary electric company, the Entergy Corporation, needs help restoring power to over a million customers. It's going to be something else."

"Entergy says it's bracing for the worst as Katrina's strength continues to grow. After Katrina hits, crews expect to work 18-hour days trying to restore power to storm-ravaged communities."

"The task of restoring utilities to the Gulf Coast is a massive undertaking. Hundreds of crews from Entergy are massing in the parking lot at the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge preparing to head into the devastation. The Louisiana crews are being joined by crews from Mississippi, the Carolinas, Virginia and other Southeastern states with more coming."

"Entergy had almost 1.1 million customers without power this morning. That includes 790,000 in Louisiana and 300,000 in Mississippi. It's the worst storm in Entergy's history. The outage total is more than four times the previous Entergy record of 270,000 set last month during Tropical Storm Cindy."

"The pressure is really on Entergy to get the power grid up and running as soon as possible. Like we saw with firefighters coming to New York, you are seeing utility workers going to this stricken region from all over to get the power grid back up and running."

"Thousands and thousands of Entergy and different power companies all around the country are here or on their way here. This electrical grid is pretty much going to have to be rebuilt."

"Entergy, which was based in New Orleans and is coping with the evacuation of thousands of employees even as it races to restore service, has been given high marks for its initial response."

"Entergy is working non-stop to get the power restored."

"Despite the obstacles, Entergy, the USA's No. 3 electric utility, has, by most accounts, exceeded expectations by restoring power in just about a week to most of the 1.1 million homes and businesses that lost it."

"For all the talk about getting the refineries and pipelines back on-line, so much of that is actually hinging on Entergy's ability. As you are seeing an influx of utility workers from around the country converge on the Gulf for that very purpose, that repair process, that restoration process truly is the linchpin for the energy supply chains in the U.S."

"Latest numbers-- close to 104,000 Entergy customers in Mississippi are still without power. But the good news-- almost 200,000 have had their power restored. Entergy says their biggest obstacle is getting fuel for their vehicles."

"Entergy has really been out there working hard and they're helping.

"How is it that Entergy has performed so magnificently in this crisis while the government at all levels - federal, state and local - has done so poorly?"

"Entergy is doing a fantastic job under incredible circumstances."

"In less than two weeks, Entergy has restored power to all customers in Mississippi who could receive [it], offering a lifeline to shattered communities. Perhaps our federal government should use Entergy's emergency plan as a blueprint for how to do things right. And maybe George Bush should hire [Entergy CEO] Wayne Leonard as his public relations consultant. At the very least, Leonard could give him some good advice on what you say to the people for whom you are responsible and who have lost everything."

"Entergy workers made their first foray into New Orleans to begin the gargantuan task of assessing the damage to the city's electrical system. Their arrival was a glimmer of encouragement in the vista of despair."

"Entergy's New Orleans operation is fighting a tough battle to restore electricity to parts of (that city). It has restored service to most customers able to receive it by bypassing the most badly damaged transmission lines and flood-damaged power plants, patching together a functioning electric system. But that isn't a long-term solution. In the New Orleans area, it is operating without half its transmission substations, two major power plants that were flooded and 12 of 19 major transmission lines."

"There's really a big development here. I'm standing in the middle of the French Quarter and the streetlights have just come on. That means power is coming back!"

"Entergy Corporation says it has restored power to the New Orleans business district, part of the French Quarter and the Convention Center."

"Through consistent Web updates, press releases and other communications mediums, Entergy, as well as others, have done a good job of working to reach out to customers in the wake of the Katrina disaster."

"When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast nearly two weeks ago, about 1,700 workers from Entergy Corp.'s New Orleans headquarters had just spent their second nights in hotel rooms in Little Rock and other Mid-South cities - out of harm's way. A week later - by coordinating 2,100 field personnel with 8,000 more from neighboring utilities and contractors - they had restored power to 686,000 of Entergy's 1.1 million customers who lost service during the storm."

"I don't know what type of corporate award, Entergy, we can give you at CNBC, but we are giving you a symbolic one. . . . While we were sitting around enjoying our three-day weekend I don't think anybody at that company did -- talk about a Labor Day weekend, a lot of labor going on there."

"Your crews have done a tremendous job. Keep up the good work."

"Residents and business owners who are returning to the New Orleans area understand that their patience will be sorely tried in the weeks ahead. . . . But waiting patiently is easier when providers don't keep customers in the dark about their progress. Entergy, for example, has been providing daily updates on power restoration since Hurricane Katrina. By contrast, BellSouth Corp. and Cox Communications won't even say how many customers are without service."

"Entergy created the Power of Hope Fund to help customers and employees with getting back on their feet after Katrina and Rita. It started with $1 million that Entergy contributed and has now grown to roughly $3.5 million in donations."

"Facing huge rebuilding costs and a loss of revenue following Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans-based subsidiary of Entergy Corporation has filed for bankruptcy protection. Entergy New Orleans also said it plans to borrow up to $200 million from its parent corporation to pay wages and benefits, make payments under existing power purchase and gas supply agreements, and continue to repair and restore facilities wrecked by Katrina."

"Entergy has been working very hard to bring the city back online."

"(With Hurricane Rita now approaching) the region's utility, Entergy Corp., and its Texas and Louisiana subsidiaries mobilized 4,000 linemen and tree-clearers yesterday, some of them from neighboring power companies. The crews and equipment are hunkering down in Baton Rouge and other towns, where they are waiting to move in after Rita's initial onslaught."

"Entergy Corporation is now undergoing its most enduring ordeal."

"We found out from Entergy that Rita did more damage to the electrical grid that Hurricane Katrina did."

"Entergy says 800,000 of its customers in four states lost power in the storm and it may be weeks before places get it back."

"Entergy Corporation initiated rolling blackouts north of Houston to reduce stress on its badly frayed electrical system after Hurricane Rita and a series of tornadoes left its Texas utility with hundreds of downed power lines and most of its power plants disabled."

"Unprecedented back-to-back storms! I can't even imagine how you [Entergy] are getting through all this."

"Thirteen hundred utility workers from all across America are on the job in Port Arthur. They are trying to get the electricity restored in that area. Entergy officials say Hurricane Rita did more damage to the power grid than any other storm. Linemen are trying to reroute power lines. Those officials from Entergy say evacuees from the area should stay away until the power is fully restored."

"Calling it the best day of restoration to date, Joe Domino, president and chief executive officer of Entergy Texas said Tuesday's restoration effort was a day of great success in getting lights back on in parts of Southeast Texas. 'Yesterday was a good day,' Domino said at a press conference. 'We restored power to 27,333 more customers'....Residents are encouraged to be patient with the restoration work, as linemen and Entergy crews continue to battle heat, mosquitoes and poison ivy."

"It's like preparing for a war. But the reason they're here is to bring life back to normal after the wrath of Rita. More than 200,000 Entergy customers have been without electricity nearly a week....Entergy hopes with today's cooler weather they can prevent any rolling outages as crews get the lights back on."

"Entergy Texas hopes to have two-thirds of its customers reconnected to electric power when day breaks as utility crews surge into more areas with severe hurricane damage....[Entergy Texas President Joe] Domino also said no customer would be cut off from service simply because they are late with a bill that is due. 'We will work with customers on payment options,' he said. 'There will be no cutoffs because of extenuating circumstances.'"

"And now power is slowly returning to Entergy customers in Lake Charles. That power is returning because of the hard work of some 1,500 utility workers from all across the country."

"Entergy created a vast safety net for its displaced employees. It found them housing, rented them cars, set their children up in local schools....This is more than good corporate citizenship. The modern power company is one of the most important players after a hurricane strikes. Without power, hospitals can't take patients, gas stations can't pump gas, rescue workers can't see at night."

"When Donna Tarrant returned home to find she had electricity in her home, she was nearly ecstatic. 'You'd better know it,' she said. Like other residents of the Bolivar Peninsula, Tarrant had been living without power for more than a week. 'It's something you just take for granted,' she said. 'You drive to work in an air conditioned car, you work in an air conditioned building and you return home to an air conditioned house. You just really don't even appreciate it until it's not there'....Living in this part of the country without it, she said, was just plain miserable....The return of any electricity to the peninsula was fantastic news. 'I would like to do a cheer actually,' she said. 'It's just so much sooner than we expected.'"

"In some respects, Entergy has never performed better."