Entergy says Ike power repairs to take 3 weeks

[maddezmom]

Entergy says Ike power repairs to take 3 weeks
Tue Sep 16, 2008 1:26pm EDT
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Entergy Corp (ETR.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) officials said on Tuesday that full power restoration in Texas after Hurricane Ike will take until October 6.

"To say the damage is significant would be an understatement," Entergy Texas President Joe Domino said on a call with reporters.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry issued an order on Tuesday to allow utilities to construct temporary electric connections to accelerate the return of power to critical infrastructure like hospitals and water pumping stations.

Elected officials in Galveston and many coastal communities have urged their citizens to stay away from storm-damaged areas until power and essential services are available.

Power has been restored to 22,000 of the 391,000 customers that lost power after the storm made landfall on Saturday, Entergy Texas officials said.

more:http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSN1629785920080916?sp=true

[tbyg52]

1. Call me cynical, but

I bet they have it calculated down to the penny.

Lost revenues from people without power vs. extra costs for faster repairs. What mix nets the least loss.

[Hangingon]

2. I left Kansas City yesterday morning heading home.

I past a convoy of Kansas City Power and Light trucks at least 2 miles long heading south on I-35. Today I past a couple of more trucks from other states.

[tbyg52]

4. Good to hear. Thanks for the info. nt

[tammywammy]

3. Entergy sets Oct. 6 goal for power restoration

This is another article with more information, including dates for specific areas:
http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/local/Entergy_sets_Oct_6_goal_for_power_restoration.html

That means for the Beaumont area, power to all customers who are able to receive it should be back on by Oct. 2.

For the Bolivar Peninsula, power isn’t at all likely because so many customers were wiped out. Indeed, 16,000 customers in all were damaged by Hurricane Ike, which made landfall on the Upper Texas Gulf Coast around 2 a.m. Saturday.

Domino’s timeline estimates power will return to customers in the Silsbee-Lumberton-Kountze areas by Sept. 29; to the orange-Vidor areas by Sept. 21; to Mid-County by Sept. 23; to the Winnie-Anahuac areas by Sept. 25; and to the Dayton-Liberty, Ames, Batson areas by Sept. 25. That’s for customers who are able to receive power, he emphasized.

Power is not possible for customers in Sabine Pass, the Bolivar Peninsula or Country Club Estates near Port Arthur in the foreseeable future.

Domino said the pace of restorations should pick up speed beginning today and that there is adequate high-voltage transmission available to sustain the pace of restorations. He added that once a customer is back, there is no reason to take power back down unless there is another weather system that causes damage or unforeseen equipment failure.

Randy Helmick, Entergy’s voice president for transmission, said 186 high-voltage lines were out because of Ike. The utility restored 31 so far with 155 to go. There were 282 substations out and now 64 are back on and 218 are still out. There were 98 transmission structures destroyed and 166 damaged.

The Sabine power station flooded and will take more than a month to restore. The Lewis Creek power station in the western part of the service territory was restored today, Domino said.

There are 7,000 restoration workers fully engaged in restoration and another 7,000 on the way.