Entergy completes $5M project to upgrade Port Arthur's power infrastructure

all right let's talk Power City here at home tonight energy is investing in the future of Port Arthur they've recently spent about $ million to upgrade the city's electric grid putting in hundreds of new poles and it's already paid off with fewer power outages entg has High Hopes heading into hurricane season 12 reporter Evony Coleman joins us and eony they say with all of these upgrades it's less likely that people are going to be left in the dark during the next storm I'm sorry guys official when any type of storm comes through downtown Port Arthur it usually knocks out power and that creates a domino effect trickling down to other parts of the city now by working on that area like not only are they uh have reliable energy but any back uh uh outages they have backup feeders over the past four months Ingy has invested $5 million to upgrade Port Arthur's electric grid our teams here in crew they worked overnight to basically rep uh replac 240 poles and within those poles there was some wires that needed to be replaced Des shine Armstrong an Ingy customer service manager says these new poles stand 45 ft tall and can withstand winds up to 156 miles per hour when we had a little wind storm it would knock all downtown out and it could take anywhere from 2 to 3 hours these new poles they haven't had any issue like with power outages so far so what does this upgrade mean for you well it's less likely that your lights will go out resident kayin Garden thinks it's a positive move upgrades are always needed upgrades are always a good thing so if it to keep the outes down uh I support it 100% these upgrades also help with safety the transit station the buses soon as they were leaved they had issues hidden poles Armstrong says while it may be an investment in power it's also an investment in the people who call the city Home Port out there is continuously growing and we want to invest in their new infrastructure and to basically show the city of P that we're there with you Armstrong says as the city continues to grow and build they also plan to eliminate overhead electrical wiring and move it underground and we'll keep you updated on air and online as we learn more about that studio Evony Coleman 12 News