Entergy’s Power Grid After Hurricane Ida

In this episode of Grid Talk host Marty Rosenberg talks with Leo
Denault who is the Chairman and CEO of Entergy Corporation.
Entergy delivers electricity to three million utility customers
in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.


The podcast focuses on the electric grid devastation caused by
Hurricane Ida and re-evaluating grid assets used to power
customers. The utility and policymakers must consider whether it
is time to pick up the pace of transmission and distribution line
upgrades, according to Denault.


When Hurricane Ida struck Louisiana two months ago its 150 mph
winds caused prolonged electric power failures. 


“The new infrastructure is proving to be robust against even the
storms that we’re seeing today,” Denault said, “but what we do
need to determine is whether or not the cost-benefit relationship
has changed.” 


“Maybe that cost-benefit relationship has changed, and we need to
come to some agreement with our stakeholders about if that’s
changed, how aggressive should we be in changing out millions of
poles.”


He continued: “What we plan to do is look at the potential
options for added resilience to the system, the cost of those
different options, and then come to an agreement on the
cost-benefit discussion about should we look at poles that, to
traditional standards, would be considered perfectly fine and
take them down and put-up new ones?” 


Transformation has already been underway. “We’ve spent nearly $10
billion over the last five years on new transmission and
distribution infrastructure. Our Class 1 poles on the
distribution side, they can withstand 150 mile-an-hour winds, and
our new transmission structures are designed to withstand 150
mile-an-hour winds. In both Hurricane Laura and in Hurricane Ida
those new technologies and those new structures withstand those
storms quite well.”


Leo Denault joined Entergy in 1999 as vice president of corporate
development, he was named Executive Vice President and Chief
Financial Officer five years later. He was named CEO and Chairman
in 2013.


Prior to joining Entergy, Mr. Denault served as vice president of
corporate development at Cinergy Corporation, where he helped
acquire generation, distribution, and trading businesses.


He has an MBA from Indiana University and a bachelor’s degree in
economics and accounting from Ball State University.