Entergy Units Complete 3 Major Projects

ALAN SAYRE

KENNER, La. (AP) — Two units of power provider Entergy Corp. have completed three major transmission projects to import more potentially cheaper electricity into southeastern Louisiana, while providing lines with more resistance to hurricane winds, company officials said Thursday.

Two of the lines are located in Amite South — New Orleans-based Entergy's service corridor between Baton Rouge and New Orleans that handles both Entergy Louisiana and Entergy Gulf States Louisiana. The third line replaces one destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in Plaquemines Parish — and moves it to an easier location for maintenance and, in the case of another storm, quicker restoration.

The projects totaled about $100 million.

At a news conference, the utilities' chief executive, Renae Conley, said that by increasing capacity, the utilities would have additional options to obtain power, especially during periods where imported power can be obtained cheaper than Entergy's own generated power.

The two lines in Amite South will increase the utilities' ability to import purchased power by about 350 megawatts. George Bartlett, Entergy's director of transmission projects, said that although it's difficult to be exact because of wide differences in individual usage, 350 megawatts is generally considered enough to power 52,000 residences.