Entergy Texas update Monday evening, Aug. 31

Published 5:46 pm Monday, August 31, 2020

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Entergy Texas continues to make great progress restoring power since Hurricane Laura hit the shores of Texas and Louisiana.  As of 4:00pm, Entergy Texas has 54,713 customers without power compared to the peak of 291,300 customers.  This reflects that 236,587 customers have been restored since the peak of the storm.

Crews have been very successful in making repairs to our distribution system and services to individual households; however, crews continue to face significant obstacles to completing the restoration process as repairs are made to our transmission system, which was heavily impacted by Hurricane Laura.

The transmission system is the backbone of the electric grid and helps Entergy move power from the power plant to the lines serving customers’ neighborhoods. These large lines are like the interstate system. Without these lines in service, it makes it difficult to move power across the system to customers in the affected areas.

Our electric system is still in a very fragile state and we are taking steps to improve system conditions, but the damage to our transmission system is significant. Because of the damage, Entergy Texas is facing two conditions: 1) transmission lines need to be repaired in order to energize substations; 2) because of damaged transmission lines, Entergy Texas does not have the capability to move power into Texas; therefore creating capacity limitations which restricts the ability to turn on customers in the affected areas. Once the transmission lines are flowing electricity into the area, into the substations, then through the distribution lines, homes and businesses will be able to accept power.

For customers in the Golden Triangle area, restoring power may take longer than expected as a result of damage to transmission lines serving your area.  As more generation and transmission services become available in Texas, this should help improve our ability to finalize our restoration efforts.

Customers remaining without power in Beaumont will be restored August 31, Port Arthur, Nederland and Port Neches by August 31, Groves September 1 and the Orange area is estimated by September 4.

Beaumont and Surrounding Areas

As of 4:00 pm, there are 1,924 customers without power in the Beaumont area.

Damage assessments are 100% complete and repairs are expected to be complete.

Servicemen continue working and making repairs throughout the city and in:

  • South Beaumont – near Lamar University around Lavaca and Ector;
  • Central Beaumont – Liberty-Laurel corridor area;
  • North Beaumont – Minglewood neighborhood and surrounding areas;
  • West Beaumont – near Major and College;

It is expected that Beaumont customers will be restored Monday, August 31.

Orange and Surrounding Areas

As of 4:00pm, 32,985 customers in the Orange and surrounding areas are without power. Total of 556 crews working in the Orange network.

The Entergy large voltage transmission system was severely damaged by the storm and is preventing our ability to energize customers. Several substations in Orange and surrounding areas cannot receive power until transmission lines are repaired. Transmission restoration continues to be a top priority as workers continue to repair all damage.

Workers continue to repair damage in impacted areas but are focused on repairing damaged equipment in the areas that will restore the most customers, including:

Orange Area:

  • Cordary Substation (West of 16th street) – Crews are working at the Country Club Subdivision, Sunset Dr, 23rd Street, and International Apartment Complex/Subdivision.
  • (East side of 16th street) – Crews are working at Brownwood and the Simmons Drive area.
  • Front Street Substation – Crews are working Downtown Orange (Main Fire station & Police Station, Stark Foundation, Lamar Orange), the Cove.
  • Orange Bulk Substation – Crews are working in Clairmont, Charlemont, Lindenwood, West Wood, Hillbrook, Baptist Hospital.
  • West Orange Substation – Crews are working at West Orange School District, West Orange Cove High School area, and the town of West Orange.
  • Echo Substation – Crews are working at Cypress Bayou, Knottingham, Kinerd Estates, the Chasse Ridge area subdivisions, Highway 87 North.

Mauriceville Area:

  • McLewis Substation – Crews are working in Mauriceville Area/Greenwood Acres, Woodridge, Texla Road area, on Highway 62 North of I-10
  • Winfrey Substation (Highway 62 and Highway 105) – Crews are working in Victory Gardens, Waterwood, Cypresswood neighborhoods,

Orangefield/Bridge City Area:

  • Oilla/Winfrey Substation (Orangefield ISD schools, all subdivisions off of Highway 105 West around the High School) – Crews are working at Cajun Way Subdivision, Bessie Heights Subdivision, Duncan Woods Subdivision, Bridge Field Estates, Tyler Estates, Schofield Addition, The Cove
  • Bridge City Substation – Crews are working at Highway 87, North Round Bunch Road, Bridgeview Estates

Entergy Texas expects to restore most of its customers, who can safely take power by Friday, September 4.

Groves, Nederland, Port Arthur and Port Neches

As of 4:00pm, there are 18,942 customers without power in the area that includes Groves, Nederland, Port Arthur, Port Neches, Sabine Pass & Taylor Landing. This is down from the peak of 43,148 customers. Sunday evening workers restored power to approximately 1000 customers in the areas of Port Arthur, along Lewis Dr. between Jefferson and Memorial, Port Neches along Grigsby and in Nederland between Hwy 365 and Helena.

Scouts have completed the assessment of the area and have identified damaged equipment, that caused the outages. These assessments have identified 79 downed poles, 113 downed spans of wire, 14 damaged transformers and 137 broken crossarms.

Workers have been very successful in making repairs to the distribution system and services to individual households; however, crews continue to face significant obstacles to restore our transmission system which was heavily impacted by Hurricane Laura. Several substations in Groves, Nederland, Port Arthur and Port Neches cannot receive power until the transmission system is repaired. Transmission restoration continues to be a top priority as workers continue to repair all damage.

Workers are also repairing the localized line and substation damage, so that once transmission power is restored and these substations are energized, most customers will be restored. Workers continue to repair damage in all impacted areas, including:

Groves

  • Areas between Hogaboom Rd, Pure Atlantic Hwy and Hwy 73

Nederland

  • The northeast side of town along Twin City Hwy
  • Between Hwy 366 and Hwy 365
  • The Mid-County Shopping Center area

Port Arthur

  • Along Hwy-73 between Jefferson Dr. and Main St.
  • The Lakeview area
  • Between Stillwell Blvd. and Houston Ave.
  • Sabine Pass

Port Neches

  • The west side of town between Nall St and Port Neches Ave
  • Near the high school between Dallas St and Merriman
  • Between Nall St and 8th St.
  • Between 1st and 8th Streets

Entergy Texas estimates that the majority of the area’s customers, who can safely take power, will be restored by Monday, August 31. Due to the transmission power damage, some Groves customers may not be restored until Tuesday, September 1.