Kentwood neighborhood residents say Entergy outages last longer than nearby areas
KENTWOOD — Residents in a Kentwood neighborhood off Sheridan Church Road say power outages have become a recurring problem, sometimes lasting days.
Nearly 7,000 Entergy customers lost power after Sunday's storms before crews restored service across Tangipahoa Parish.
While power is back on in the neighborhood, residents say their area tends to stay dark longer than others nearby. One neighbor, who did not want to go on camera, said that when the power goes out on their street, areas just down the road off of Highway 441 often still have electricity.
A resident who goes by OJ says he has lived there for years and finds the outages frustrating.
"Hell yeah, it's frustrating. I got kids," OJ said.
OJ says when outages stretch for hours or days, families have to make tough decisions.
"Because I got to go buy a room for the night instead of waiting at the house or crank up my generator. I got to spend money on gas," he said.
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Another resident posted on Facebook during Sunday's outage, upset that the estimated restore time was set for the following day. While power came back sooner than that, the resident said the area frequently loses power and is often the last to get it restored.
Residents say they understand why outages happen but question why their area seems to wait longer than others to get power back. For OJ, it comes down to getting what he pays for.
"You want your money on point, I want my lights on point," he said.
An Entergy spokesperson sent WBRZ this statement: "Entergy crews have been actively addressing reliability challenges in the area, where dense vegetation surrounds our power lines. Since June, our vegetation teams have removed approximately 85 trees along this route, and crews remain in the area conducting further inspections. Teams are also patrolling the lines that serve these customers to determine whether additional vegetation issues need to be addressed. We appreciate our customers’ patience as we continue working to strengthen reliability in this region."