Entergy Louisiana, in collaboration with Jefferson Parish Council members, recently highlighted a significant ongoing grid-hardening project. This initiative focuses on the crucial Veterans Boulevard corridor, stretching from the Orleans Parish line to Clearview Parkway. The project entails the replacement or reinforcement of over 500 utility poles, marking the initial phase of a substantial $270 million investment in infrastructure. The primary objective is to fortify hundreds of miles of power lines across Jefferson Parish, ensuring that approximately 8,400 distribution and transmission poles can withstand the destructive force of a Category 4 hurricane, characterized by winds reaching 140 miles per hour.
Phillip May, CEO of Entergy Louisiana, emphasized the strategic prioritization of areas housing critical infrastructure, such as fire and police stations, hospitals, and vital pumping facilities. Beyond these essential services, Entergy also focuses on “social infrastructure,” which encompasses key commercial arteries like the Veterans Boulevard corridor, home to grocery stores and other essential businesses. May articulated that maintaining power in these areas is paramount, enabling communities to recover far more rapidly in the aftermath of a major storm. He stated, “Because if your house is not back on, but you have access to food and water and ice, if you have the ability to get gasoline, you can probably hunker down for a few days. Because instead of weeks of recovery, we’re talking about days of recovery.”
This ambitious endeavor is part of Entergy Louisiana’s broader $1.9 billion “accelerated resilience program.” Company officials project that the projects implemented in Jefferson Parish alone will lead to an impressive $175 million in savings on future storm-restoration costs. Customers are currently contributing to this investment through a monthly surcharge on their bills, which presently stands at nearly $3.70 for an average user and is anticipated to peak at approximately $7 in 2029.
May further elaborated on the operational benefits of these upgrades, explaining that repairing a single downed pole can often consume half a day or more for multiple crews. However, with the introduction of this new class of robust poles, the likelihood of poles remaining upright even if lines are damaged significantly increases. “It’s just really about how quickly can we get the economy back up and running,” he remarked. “Look, you really probably can’t engineer a grid that won’t go down, but you can engineer a grid that can come back up more quickly, and that’s what this is about.” In the upcoming months, Entergy Louisiana intends to submit a request to the Public Service Commission for additional funding to sustain its grid-hardening efforts. While the exact amount for “Phase 1a” has not yet been disclosed, this scaled-down request is expected to cover the accelerated resilience spending beyond 2028.
Separately, Entergy New Orleans, which operates under the purview of the New Orleans City Council, is implementing its own resilience program. This subsidiary has sought an additional $400 million for a five-year extension beginning in January. However, council members have expressed concerns, demanding demonstrable improvements in overall reliability before approving the subsequent phase of funding.
Jefferson Parish At-Large Council member Jennifer Van Vrancken was among the local dignitaries who joined Entergy employees for a ceremonial ribbon-cutting near the Lakeside Shopping Center. She underscored the strategic importance of the chosen location, noting, “Causeway at Veterans is one of the busiest intersections in the entire state. This is the place business really happens, and so for Entergy to begin the resilience here is the perfect location.”
Crews will be working on Veterans Boulevard from both ends, a process that may lead to some traffic disruptions and scheduled power outages. The project is targeted for completion by October, contingent on weather conditions. Van Vrancken also mentioned the ongoing dialogue between parish staff and Entergy regarding areas with historically less reliable service, citing a nearby residential neighborhood in Metairie and the Driftwood neighborhood in Kenner. She concluded, “That’s really an ongoing conversation that we have with Entergy, because we share the same customers. So as our constituents call and express concerns, it’s the same people that Entergy serves so we try to always make those conversations happen.”
