Residents with BECi (Beauregard Electric) will be waiting a few weeks for electricity as lines are repaired. Those residents with Cleco or JDEC (Jeff Davis Electric Cooperative) are not having to wait as long, but all have had to endure several days without power.
BECi
In a press release, BECi reported 500 linemen were working to restore power. The phones at the BECi are up and running again with the help of Central Electric Membership Cooperative in Sanford, North Carolina. Members can call 1-800-367-0275 to speak to a customer service representative. The company anticipates members will be without power four to six weeks.
“These are just estimates and some members may be without power for longer depending on the damage in their area,” stated the release.
On Thursday, August 27, the company noted it had lost power to 40,995 members. “The locally-owned cooperatives serves more than 43,000 members on 5,750 miles of line in portions of Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Vernon, Rapides, Jeff Davis and Evangeline Parishes.”
On Monday, August 31, BECi reported the following numbers for outages:
Allen Parish – 5517; Beauregard Parish – 15,167; Calcasieu Parish – 12,321; Evangeline – 48; Jeff Davis – 326; Rapides – 1402; and Vernon – 8133.
Cleco
On Thursday, August 27, Cleco reported 140,000 customers were without electricity. By that evening, 31,205 customers were restored, but the company had widespread, significant damage. It’s hardest hit parishes were Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Grant, Rapides and Vernon.
At 4 p.m. on Friday, August 28, Cleco reported outages as:
Acadia – 1,785; Allen – 5,917; Avoyelles – 3,445; Beauregard – 5,122; Calcasieu – 2,461; Catahoula – 18; Desoto – 1,280; Evangeline – 5,773; Grant – 7,685; Iberia – 2,589; Jefferson Davis – 39; Lasalle – 15; Natchitoches – 641; Rapides – 39,753; Red River – 67; Sabine – 6,363; St. Landry – 1,109; St. Martin – 480; St. Mary – 603; and Vernon – 5,684.
On Tuesday, September 1, the company had 66 percent of its customers affected by the hurricane restored. The outage report included:
Acadia – Less than five; Allen – 2,786; Avoyelles – 841; Beauregard – 5,122; Calcasieu – 2,461; Catahoula – 18; Desoto – 404; Evangeline – 540; Grant – 5,978; Iberia – 9; Jefferson Davis – 39; Lasalle – 15; Natchitoches – 188; Rapides – 20,398; Red River – 10; Sabine – 2,645; St. Landry – 35; St. Martin – Less than five; St. Mary – Less than five; and Vernon – 5,685.
At the end of Tuesday, the company reported power had been restored in Oakdale to critical infrastructures like the Federal Detention Center, hospital and nursing home. Power in Oberlin had been returned to all customers who could receive it. In Kinder, crews were making progress, but there was a lot of damage in the area. For Elizabeth, Cleco had secured additional resources to send to assist with restoration efforts there. They believed it would take three to five days in this community to make repairs.
“We’re getting there, and we want our customers to know we appreciate their understanding and patience,” said James Lass, director of distribution operations and emergency management. “We always focus our efforts on critical infrastructure such as water and sewage systems, hospitals and medical facilities, and then move to the circuits with the largest number of customers until everyone who can receive power has it.”
JDEC
On Friday, JDEC announced they were assessing damages. Half of its system could not be assessed due to flooding. The company estimated at least a 1,000 broken poles in the area.
Tuesday, September 1, Addie Armato, press information, shared the company was posting daily on its Facebook™ page for Jeff Davis Electric Co-Op, of power being restored. They were working on the Compton Substation in Roanoke and expected power in 36 to 48 hours to residents living in the area.
The Elton Substation had not been connected Armato explained due to the extensive damage. She couldn’t determine how long it would take to make repairs to the transmission lines in the area. She encouraged residents to keep watching Facebook for updates. Armato also gives safety tips, answers questions and other information on the page.
JDEC has 638 customers in the Elton area.
