Little Rock, Ark. – Some 90 linemen and 30 support personnel from Entergy Arkansas, Inc. left at daybreak Sunday headed for the Pikeville/Hazard area of Kentucky. The workers will help restore power to nearly 80,000 customers of American Electric Power Kentucky Power affected by a major winter storm that swept through the region.
Crews left from locations across Arkansas early Sunday morning. Plans are to stop for the night just east of Nashville, then complete the journey and begin restoration work Monday. They are expected to be working away from home for at least a week, including Christmas.
About three quarters of Entergy Arkansas linemen remain in the state to take care of day-to-day operations.
Heavy snow covered much of Kentucky Power’s service territory Friday and Saturday, causing extensive damage to power facilities and leading nearly 80,000 customers to lose power. Wet, heavy snow brought down trees and tree branches across power lines and damaged utility poles, cross arms and other electrical facilities throughout the service area. The weather has also made travel and access to some areas difficult.
The Arkansas crews are responding to a request from AEP, one of the largest electric utilities in the country. AEP also requested assistance from Entergy Mississippi, Inc. Those crews are headed to southeastern West Virginia.
Entergy’s utility companies participate in mutual assistance agreements with utility companies across the country as well as within the Entergy family. When Entergy companies need help after storms, restoration workers are sent to help safely restore power to customers.
Entergy Arkansas provides electricity to 680,000 customers in 63 counties. It is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation. Entergy Corporation 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, and it is the second-largest nuclear generator in the United States. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.7 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $13 billion and approximately 14,300 employees.
