The Edison Electric Institute has awarded Entergy Corporation its 30th Emergency Response Award for the company’s exceptional assistance in restoring power to citizens following Hurricane Florence in September 2018.
EEI has awarded Entergy with a national storm-response award for 21 consecutive years in recognition of the company’s recovery and mutual-assistance work.
“We were able to give back to other utilities after they experienced storm conditions like those we got in Texas from Hurricane Harvey in 2017,” said Mike Vaughan, Entergy’s system storm incident commander. “We remain ready to safely and quickly restore power to our customers and others, regardless of what type of storm causes damage.”
Hurricane Florence was a powerful and long-lived storm that affected the Carolinas. Entergy earned the EEI Emergency Assistance Award for sending 176 company line workers, plus 143 contractors, to help restore electricity for customers of Duke Energy Carolinas and South Carolina Electric & Gas. Of those, 50 company line workers, 12 scouts and 40 contract workers were from Entergy Mississippi.
“When disasters strike, neighboring electric companies respond quickly to assist with recovery and restoration efforts,” said EEI President Tom Kuhn. “Our mutual assistance network is a hallmark of the electric power industry. Entergy’s extraordinary efforts – amidst hazardous conditions – helped restore service for customers in the Carolinas impacted by Hurricane Florence quickly and safely.”
The Emergency Assistance Award is presented to EEI member companies to recognize their extraordinary response helping other electric companies in power restoration efforts after service has been disrupted by severe weather conditions or other natural events. The winners were chosen by a panel of judges following an international nomination process. The awards were presented during EEI’s Winter Board and Chief Executives Meeting in Palm Beach, Florida.
