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Entergy Restores Power To Half A Million Customers But Large Parts Of Southeast Louisiana Are Still Dark

An animated gif showing a percentage of how many customers still don't have power in parts of New Orleans.
Stephan Bisaha
/
Gulf States Newsroom
Power continues to be restored to New Orleans following massive prolonged outages following Hurricane Ida. As of 10 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 7, 2021, about 25% of the city is still waiting for restoration. The data is also based on Entergy’s outage map. The utility has admitted the map has inaccuracies, which would also appear in this map.

Entergy has restored power to more than half a million of its customers, Louisiana's largest utility said Tuesday morning.

But there are still roughly 370,000 customers without power across the state, with about 50,000 of them in New Orleans. Entergy expects 90% of its customers in the city to have power back Wednesday.

Some neighborhoods such as Venetian Isles will likely take longer due to more damage in those areas. Details of power restoration timelines for specific neighborhoods in New Orleans can be found here.

Power has also recently been restored to a small portion of LaPlace Parish for the first time since the storm left Louisiana.

The areas along the gulf hit hardest by the Ida could be without power until September 29, but it could be even longer for some customers. Entergy said the damage is so severe in those areas that it’s not about repairing but rebuilding. Ida took down more power poles than hurricanes Zeta, Delta and Katrina combined.

Entergy said it will suspend late fees for customers, as well as disconnects. The utility would not commit to how long, but said the policy would continue indefinitely and be reevaluated as the grid improves.

The price of electricity isn’t expected to fluctuate much due to the storm, Entergy said. Restoration costs could raise bills in the future, but that likely won’t be determined for months.

Entergy’s outage map has frustrated some New Orleans residents by telling them power has been restored to their street while the lights are still off in their homes.

The company admits the map has inaccuracies. It indicates when power has been restored to the power lines, not when the power is making it to a home. More damage could be preventing electricity from reaching streetlights or houses.

Entergy said a better way for someone to find out if their home has power is to use their app or sign up for texts, though some residents have also said they’ve received texts falsely indicating power has returned. Customers can sign up for alerts and status updates by texting 36778 with the phrase “REG.”

Here are the latest predictions from Entergy for restoring power to 90% of customers in these parishes:

  • Ascension Parish, Sept. 7
  • Assumption Parish, Sept. 22
  • East Bank of Jefferson Parish, Sept. 8
  • Lafourche Parish, Sept. 29
  • Livingston Parish, Sept. 7
  • Lower Jefferson Parish, Sept. 29
  • Plaquemines Parish, Sept. 29 (Belle Chasse on Sept. 10)
  • St. Bernard Parish, Sept. 7
  • St. Charles Parish, Sept. 29
  • St. James Parish, Sept. 17
  • St. John Parish, Sept. 17
  • St. Tammany Parish, Sept. 10
  • Tangipahoa Parish, Sept. 17
  • Terrebonne Parish, Sept. 29
  • Washington Parish, Sept. 10
  • Westbank of Jefferson Parish, Sept. 8

A tropical disturbance in the gulf monitored by Entergy threatened to bring rain and winds that would slow down restorations, though the company now expects it to not cause a problem for New Orleans. But recent rain showers have caused more outages in the state.

Stephan Bisaha is the wealth and poverty reporter for the Gulf States Newsroom, a regional collaboration between NPR and member stations in Alabama (WBHM), Mississippi (MPB) and Louisiana (WWNO and WRKF). He reports on the systemic drivers of poverty in the region and economic development.

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