Entergy Units Complete 3 Major Projects

Boissiere said that if the lines had been in place during the 2005 and 2008 hurricane seasons, which put out hundreds of thousands of customers, sometimes for weeks, power could have been restored quicker.

The third project, costing $39.7 million, is aimed at lower Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes, where electrical equipment was devastated by Katrina. A 19-mile transmission line was moved out of an environmentally sensitive area to a location along a highway, cutting maintenance and restoration costs, said George Bartlett, director of Entergy's transmission projects.

Older portions of the area's distribution system also were replaced. The line and the new facilities are designed to withstand winds of 150 miles per hour, Bartlett said.

Bartlett said the wind resistance meets the latest U.S. standards. However, he said that although the new lines are more resistant, the vast majority of downed lines are not caused by high winds — but by flying debris.