Jefferson Parish President John Young is calling for inquiries and penalties against Entergy for what he described as an unacceptably slow pace of power restoration after Hurricane Isaac. From 9 a.m. to after 7 p.m. Friday, he said, 8,631 customers were restored, still leaving 137,400 customers, or about 66 percent of the parish, without electricity.
"It is not usually our style to confront and criticize a company like Entergy," Young said. "But unfortunately it is necessary for us to do this at this time."
"We have gotten a lot of talk," from the power company, he said. "We have gotten little action."
The lack of relief from sweltering weather could become a dire situation for elderly or otherwise fragile residents, he said. On Friday, he said, residents of Westminster Tower Retirement Homes in Kenner had to be taken to a parish shelter with air conditioning at Mike Miley Playground in Metairie.
He said he is receiving calls from businesses, including restaurants and car dealerships, saying they are eager to reopen but cannot because of the lack of electricity.
He said citizens are not getting results on their reports of potentially dangerous downed power lines.
"If I was the CEO of Entergy, I'd be asking my subordinates a lot of tough questions," Young said. And he said if he were Entergy's board, he would fire the chief executive officer.
He called for the Louisiana Public Service Commission, which regulates power companies, to open an inquiry into the company's performance after the storm and issue fines against Entergy.
"We would be ready to get back to business today, but for Entergy," he said. "There's a lack of a sense of urgency."
Young said Entergy trucks appear to be parked and not working. Jefferson Parish Councilman Chris Roberts said one fleet of trucks parked for hours in the parish, ran out of gas and had to be assisted in fueling up so it could report to what turned out to be an assignment restoring power in Baton Rouge.
Young argued the company did a poor job of positioning its recovery forces for a quick response. He said they should have housed workers in hotels just outside the hurricane strike zone and put them on the streets as soon as the wind and rain stopped.
"Where is Entergy?" he asked. "We see their trucks. We see their trucks parked."
"Entergy is the only thing holding us back from making a full recovery," Young said.
Mark Waller can be reached at mwaller@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3783. Follow him on Twitter at MarkWallerTP or Facebook at Mark Waller Times-Picayune.
Source: http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index.ssf/2012/08/jefferson_parish_president_evi.html
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