PORT ARTHUR, Texas — Entergy Texas has completed a $5 million project, that is intended to help protect the city of Port Arthur from extreme weather events.
Southeast Texas citizens are no strangers to inclement weather and lengthy power outages in the aftermath. However, with these upgrades that may be changing.
The massive project consisted of replacing around 240 old utility poles, replacing aging powerlines, and overall improvements to the electrical system in accordance with the newly developed extreme wind guidelines. These changes are expected to withstand severe weather up to a Category 4 hurricane.
“The upgrades will assist The Port of Port Arthur, city departments and Lamar State College Port Arthur. For the first time in years, the city was not affected by the recent storms and cold weather that normally caused outages,” said Port Arthur City Manager Ron Burton.
The upgrades will range from the downtown district along Proctor Street and Houston Avenue as well as Lakefront Drive by LSCPA.
City officials say when any type of storm comes through downtown Port Arthur, residents usually lose power and that creates a domino effect, trickling down to other parts of the city.
"Now by working on that area not only will they have reliable energy but any backup outages they have backup feeders," said Entergy Customer Service Manager Dashaun Armstrong.
The ambitious project originally had a budget of up to $7.2 million, but due to strategic planning between two different Entergy teams, was able to be completed for about $2 million less.
"Crews worked overnight to replace 240 poles and within those poles there was some wire that needed to be replaced," Armstrong said.
He says these new poles are 45 feet tall and can withstand winds up to 156 mph.
"When we had a windstorm it would knock all of downtown out and it could take anywhere from 2-3 hours. But with these new poles there hasn't been any outages so far," Armstrong told 12News.
Entergy Texas Operations Coordinator Jeremy Flowers is pleased with the progress being made in Port Arthur.
“These upgrades will benefit customers by making the electrical system in the downtown district more reliable, reducing the risk of outages, and improving the overall quality of the electrical system to allow for additional growth," Flowers said.
With the potential of additional growth mentioned, these upgrades may just be the first steps in battling power outages in Port Arthur.
"Upgrades are always needed. Upgrades are always a good thing. So if it will keep outages down I support it 100%," said Kalan Gardner, a resident.
These upgrades will also help with safety.
"The transit station, the buses soon as they would leave they would have issues hitting the poles," Armstrong said.
While this may be an investment in power, it's also an investment in the people who call the city home, according to Armstrong.
"Port Arthur is continuing growing and we want to invest in their new infrastructure and basically show the city of Port Arthur 'we're with you.'," he said.
Armstrong tells 12News, as the city continues to grow and build they also plan to eliminate overhead electric wiring and move it underground.
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This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.