This story was originally published on the Louisiana Illuminator.
Barred from shutting off power to customers during the ongoing stretch of heat advisories across the state, Entergy Louisiana disconnected a number of customers in the Monroe area as soon as temperatures there fell slightly Tuesday. Public complaints prompted the company to reconnect those customers that evening.
Electric utilities in Louisiana are prohibited from disconnecting their customers for nonpayment during extreme weather such as dangerous heat, for which the National Weather Service issues an advisory when temperatures reach 103 degrees or heat indices reach 108 degrees.
Much of Louisiana has consistently been under heat advisories since late June in what has been one of the hottest summers ever recorded, prompting Gov. John Bel Edwards to declare a state of emergency last week.
Areas of north Louisiana saw a temporary break from the heat Tuesday as temperatures in Monroe fell to about 91. It was the first time in several days the area wasn’t under a heat advisory with scorching temperatures above 103 degrees. Entergy then started disconnecting customers who hadn’t paid their bills.
Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell said he first learned of the situation when an Entergy customer called his office. He said he quickly sent a memo to the company telling them to restore the customer’s power.
Campbell lashed out at Entergy executives during Wednesday’s commission meeting.
“I think you ought to be ashamed,” he said. “When it’s been 100 degrees for 15 days in a row, you find one day that’s cool and you cut them off.”
Entergy Louisiana executive Larry Hand said he and other company leaders ordered the power reconnected and suspended any further disconnects as soon as they found out what had happened.
Hand explained the company was technically following regulations. Entergy has systems in place to follow the LPSC rules as they are written, which is why disconnections commenced when a heat advisory was not in effect, he said.
“We built processes around your rules, and that’s how we normally operate,” Hand said. “But when it was elevated to our attention, we reversed it. And so we have suspended disconnects even though the order doesn’t require it.”
It’s unclear how many Entergy customers had their power shut off Tuesday. Hand said it was only a small number, and their electricity was restored by that evening.
Commissioner Davante Lewis said members should consider revising the regulation.
Separately, Lewis asked all the utility companies to commit to suspending disconnects for as long as the state remains under the governor’s emergency order.
Louisiana unofficially has 12 seasons, according to the National Weather Service. Temperatures for north Louisiana are forecast to climb back up later this week as the state is currently experiencing what the service calls “false fall,” a brief period when temperatures dip slightly before entering the “second summer.”