Entergy Reveals Strategies to Enhance Hurricane Restoration Efforts

NEW ORLEANS, La. — Entergy has outlined four key strategies to improve its response to the rising number of hurricanes, following a challenging 2024 season marked by Hurricanes Beryl and Francine. With the Atlantic hurricane season typically bringing about seven hurricanes annually, last year saw a spike to 11, including significant storms that directly impacted Entergy’s service areas.

Entergy’s proactive measures include strengthening its electrical grid, practicing response strategies, and enhancing restoration approaches. Dakin DuBroc, vice president of incident response for Entergy, emphasized, “Resilience is not only the strength of the system but also how quickly we recover and restore power to our customers following severe weather.”

In 2024, Hurricane Beryl made landfall in Texas as a Category 1 storm with winds reaching 85 mph, while Hurricane Francine, a Category 2 storm, hit Louisiana with winds peaking at 100 mph. Entergy successfully restored power to 90% of affected customers within five days of Beryl and achieved full restoration within four days after Francine. DuBroc attributed this efficiency to advanced resilience investments, such as elevated substations and underground electrical feeders.

Additionally, during Francine, new poles installed under Entergy’s resilience strategy showed zero damage, allowing faster restoration efforts on the Grand Isle, Louisiana, which had previously faced severe outages after Hurricane Ida in 2021.

As utilities evolve in response to increasing storm challenges, Mike Zappone, chief operating officer at Tempest Energy, noted, “Contractors are now required to embrace technology, which allows them to align closely with utility operations, improving efficiency in storm response.” He stresses the importance of establishing communication objectives to ensure community members are informed during restoration.

A key aspect of Entergy’s strategy is the use of technology tools like Storm-DEPART, which helps predict the impact on infrastructure before storms hit. This foresight allows Entergy to pre-stage crews and materials, expediting the recovery process. Recently developed applications like DACT have improved real-time damage assessments, replacing outdated methods that smaller utilities may still rely on.

Zappone promoted the importance of community partnerships in storm preparedness, stating, “Building connections before a major outage ultimately means smoother communication and faster service restoration for residents.” Entergy is determined to refine its processes and enhance utility resilience as it prepares for the upcoming hurricane season.