Energy crews addressing power outages
Published 12:08 pm Wednesday, February 17, 2021
Thousands of residents were without power service at some point during the winter storm that impacted Mississippi this week.
The majority of outages were to the south and east of Brookhaven, and power companies servicing the area have had crews working to restore service as quickly as safely possible.
“Most power has been restored for our area,” Entergy Customer Service Manager Dustin Shack said.
Magnolia Electric Power Co-op had nearly 9,000 members without power at the highest count, said Manager of Member Services and Communications Lucy Shell. As of 11 a.m. Wednesday, that number was around 6,750 members affected by 50 outages.
“Every weather event is an event unto itself,” Shell said. “It was a constant battle the first couple of days because our linemen would get power restored and something would happen and it would go right back out again. We understand the frustration of your power being out.”
Shell said MEP had all of their main linemen and five contract crews working during that time. These will be joined by three crews from Southwest Electric and 12 men from Singing River Electric in the continued efforts to restore service.
Crews are working in daylight hours only, to minimize risks. Essential areas, such as water plants and other 3-phase service areas, are addressed first, progressing down to single phase lines that may service only one residence.
“Please be patient,” Shell said. “With temperatures warming, we’re optimistic it will go faster. Every outage is important to us.”
Shack said Entergy has additional crews available to respond to the next weather system, though he is hopeful it will not impact the area.
“Southwest Electric has, thankfully, not experienced many power outages from Winter Storm Uri. We had a few and were able to respond and restore power quickly. We sent 14 lineworkers yesterday and today to help Magnolia Electric Power,” said Southwest Electric Human Resources and Public Relations Specialist Deb McGee.