Whose power is out? Get online to find out

Entergy has just enhanced its View Outages Website to show street-by-street information. So the next time a storm knocks out a power line or more, customers will be able to get online and check to see who is and who is not up and running.

“This detailed view of power availability is rare among power companies,” said Craig Schimpf, the local customer service manager. “Instead of showing a general area where power may be out, this new view shows customers exactly whether power is available on a given street.”

Of course when your power is out, unless you’ve got a generator hooked up to your computer, you can’t check a website from home to see if you are the only one on the block without electricity. But if you have power, you could check on another location, or you might be able to check on your home situation from the office.

The maps use color for easy understanding, said Schimpf. Green lines show power is on at the street, and red lines show power is off at the street. Site visitors can then zoom in to a street level view to see the power status right where they live or work, or where their parents live or their children attend school.

“Entergy’s red/green outage restoration maps were well-received with media and the public during hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and again during Gustav and Ike,” said Schimpf, “But they did not show street names. We have added the popular red/green feature to View Outages so everyone will have the benefit of easily seeing where power is on.”

Entergy’s ability to show street-by-street power status is leading-edge capability among electric utilities, he said. Most show outages as general shaded areas, as did Entergy’s former system.

“This new capability shows customers exactly where power is available,” said Schimpf. “But it is important that customers remember that conditions or damage at their location may prevent them from receiving power, even though the map shows it is available on their street.”

View Outages can be found at www.entergy.com. Visitors should go to the upper right corner to choose the utility company where they live, such as Entergy Louisiana, then click on View Outages. They are then taken to a map that shows the power status of their area.