Entergy : Groves, Port Arthur Service Reliability Projects to Start May 8; Motorists Urged to Drive Cautiously in Work Areas

Port Arthur, Texas - Throughout May and June, Entergy Texas, Inc. customers in neighborhoods in Port Arthur and Groves can expect to see contract workers trimming vegetation or removing hazard trees that could cause problems for their electric service.

Both projects are expected to begin May 8 and will involve crews doing work manually as well as in bucket trucks. While crews will be in highly visible bucket trucks, customers can also expect to see them working manually to remove vegetation. Drivers in the area are urged to be alert and use caution when nearing work areas.

In Port Arthur, work will take place on two power lines fed by the Kolb substation on 39th Street. One of the power lines is about 12 miles long and serves 1,348 customers in an area just south of the Highway 73 and Highway 347 intersection. Work will take place along 39th and 32nd streets and Highway 347. The other power line is north and south of the Highway 73 and Highway 347 intersection. It is about 12 miles long and serves 706 customers.

In Groves, work will take place on a nearly 16-mile-long power line out of the Groves substation on Main Avenue. The power line serves 1,517 customers and is just north of Highway 73. Circuits were work will take place include 39th Street, following Taft Avenue.

"Our goal is to keep the lights on for our customers," said Ron Fletcher, customer service representative for South Jefferson County." A key part of doing that involves having an aggressive vegetation management program. We keep a schedule that ensures all of our power lines receive regular vegetation maintenance. This helps ensure that limbs and other vegetation are cleared away regularly to minimize power interruptions to our customers. When we conduct this cycle of trimming, we also remove hazard trees that may be outside our right of way, but that are in poor condition and close enough to fall into the lines."

In 2013, Entergy Texas workers trimmed more than 1,900 line miles of trees. Entergy Texas vegetation personnel evaluate hazard trees for possible removal. A hazard tree is any tree with a structural defect, such as being dead or dying, decayed or leaning. Any of these circumstances could cause the tree to fall into overhead power lines.

Entergy Texas, Inc. delivers electricity to more than 420,000 customers in 27 counties. It is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation. Entergy 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, including more than 10,000 megawatts of nuclear power, making it one of the nation's leading nuclear generators. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.8 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.