The Voice of Southwest Louisiana

SWLA business
Entergy employees helped sponsor the National Hurricane Museums' Hurricane Rita Anniversary and hurricane preparedness day. Pictured from left: Paul Joubert, Roberta
Lawson, Warren Faulk, Lorena Ceasar, Shawn Quinn, Christine Shannon, Frank Shannon, Jason Littleton, Calvin Thibodeaux, Sheila Pounders, Jennifer Mills, Al Lester, Elizabeth
Trahan, Ron Childress, Nicole Grille and Paul Pounders.
Bright Times Ahead
for Entergy and its
Community Partners
Contributed By Kacee Kirschvink
People may not think about
Entergy until their power
goes out or their electric bills
are due. But for an abused
child who needs counseling
or a senior citizen who needs
a meal, Entergy is there to
support them during the
darkest of days.
Through charitable
contributions to nonprofit
agencies, volunteerism in the
community and bill payment
assistance to qualified
customers, Entergy gives
back. After all, it’s what helps
customers, communities
and economies grow even
stronger.
Earlier in the fall, Entergy held
a We Power Life celebration
26
in Lake Charles to shine a
light on the outstanding
work performed by dozens
of southwest Louisiana
organizations and nonprofits.
Over the past year, these
agencies received nearly 100
Entergy grant contributions
totaling nearly half a million
dollars. This money was used
for everything from educating
children and providing shelter
for the homeless to creating
jobs and cleaning up the
environment.
“We rely heavily on our
partnerships with local
agencies in the communities
we serve,” said Phillip May,
Entergy Louisiana president
and CEO. “We recognize and
thank all of them for the hard
work they do to achieve our
shared goal of improving the
lives and outcomes of our
citizens, our communities, and
our customers.”
A major program that
many may not know about
is The Power to Care. This
program provides funds to
wwhelp qualified disabled or
elderly customers pay their
electric bills. Customers and
employees of the company
contribute to the fund, and
Entergy shareholders provide
matching funds. See and hear
what customers who have
experienced The Power to
Care have to say about the
program.
Lake Charles is the thirdfastest
growing U.S. metro
economy. In 2015 its growth
rate was 8.3 percent, so it
is important that Entergy
provides this region the power
to grow.
Therefore, Entergy is investing
millions of dollars to improve
service reliability, expand the
electric system and deliver
clean, low-cost energy to
homes and businesses in this
growing region. This includes:
• Upgrading 94 miles of
transmission lines and more
than 25,000 poles.
• Building the Lake Charles
Transmission project, a
$183 million investment
that will increase
generating capacity and
reliability in mid-2018.zz
• Spending $1 billion to
upgrade plants and
substations.
• Investing nearly $200
million to harden
transmission, distribution
and substations.
By supporting local
programs and services
and strengthening our
partnerships, we ensure the
December 2016 WWW.THEVOICEOFSOUTHWESTLA.COM Volume 4 • Number 3