Entergy: Hardest repairs remain

• By WILL SENTELL
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Sep 9, 2008 - Page: 1A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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About four in 10 Entergy customers in the Baton Rouge area remained in the dark Monday, and the company pleaded for patience as it begins long-term repairs.

“Those are going to be much more difficult,” Jeff Holeman, spokesman for Entergy Gulf States, said of utilities that suffered the heaviest damages during Hurricane Gustav.

“I just want people to understand that,” Holeman said.

Figures provided Monday show that:

• Power has been restored to 60 percent of Entergy Gulf States customers in East Baton Rouge Parish, which means 40 percent remain without electricity eight days after the storm.

The utility serves about 161,000 customers in the parish.

Power has been restored to about 75 percent of Entergy customers statewide.

• 77 percent of DEMCO customers in East Baton Rouge Parish have had power restored.

That firm provides electricity for about 31,000 customers in the parish.

Entergy has released restoration maps and set up customer service centers to help customers gauge when their power will return.

Areas where repairs are expected within seven days from the initial release of the maps, which is Thursday, remain on target, Holeman said.

“We still feel good about those,” he said.

However, Holeman cautioned customers that long-term repairs — roughly 14-21 days from Sept. 4 — will mark the “really hard” part of restoring power to areas in Baton Rouge.

The latest figures mean that about 65,000 customers of Entergy Gulf States in East Baton Parish remain without power.

Holeman again said he could not provide figures on what percentage of those are classified as requiring long-term repairs.

The Monday update also means that power was restored to about 8,000 customers since the Sunday update, compared to about 29,000 between Saturday and Sunday.

Entergy officials said sites set for work today include Broadmoor, Sherwood Forest, the Hollywood and Plank area and the Kenilworth subdivision.