Remnants of Gustav slow attempts to restore power
Mark WilliamsTorrential rains and the threat of tornadoes in the wake of Hurricane Gustav slowed attempts to rebuild Louisiana's broken transmission and distribution systems even as hundreds of thousands of residents who had fled the storm return to homes that may be without power for weeks.
Oil and natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico that had been shut down last month before the hurricane resumed in limited volumes, U.S. Minerals Management Service said Wednesday afternoon. And the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, which handles about 12 percent of the nation's crude imports and is tied by pipeline to about half the nation's refining capacity, does not appear to have been damaged by Gustav.
Utility giant Entergy Corp., with 1.2 million customers in Louisiana, reported 620,705 outages among them Wednesday night and said outages expanded into Arkansas overnight, where 70,869 customers were without power. Power had been restored to 148,693 customers. It said about 40 percent of its transmission lines and 27 percent of its substations were out of service in the state.
"It was a direct hit across Louisiana," Renae Conley, president and chief executive of Entergy Louisiana and Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, told reporters.
The Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities in Louisiana, estimates that half the power will be restored in nine days, but that it will take up to four weeks before all power is restored.
Gov. Bobby Jindal said that's unacceptable. "Power continues to be the most critical obstacle to the recovery of our state," he said.
More than half of Entergy's 141,000 customers in New Orleans were without power and, Rod West, president and chief executive of Entergy New Orleans, said some residents returning to New Orleans may have power in a day or two. It may be much longer for others.
Entergy was able to reconnect some critical buildings in an area south of Lake Pontchartrain, such as hospitals.
The Department of Energy reported 1.2 million outages in Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi.
New Orleans and Baton Rouge were particularly hard hit, and in the center of the state, near Alexandria, heavy rains and flooding prevented utility crews from accessing some areas. Cleco Corp. reported 61 percent of all its customers, about 167,071 customers, were without power. Entergy said the Baton Rouge area has never suffered damage as severe as that caused by Gustav.
Co-op Dixie Electric Membership Corp., based in Baton Rouge, said only 6 percent of its 95,000 members had power.
"It's going to be a slow, arduous task," said spokesman Brent Bradley.
At least 15,000 utility workers from as far away as Massachusetts and Utah were either in Louisiana or en route, matching the mobilizations that followed hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Arkansas utility workers who have been in Louisiana since Monday will return Thursday to restore power in their own state.
The U.S. Minerals Management Service said about 4 percent of oil production had been restored, and natural gas output stood at about 8 percent. Some companies with platforms in the western Gulf of Mexico said they'd restarted production in the past day.
The Energy Department said 22 major natural gas processing plants that had been shut down reported no major damage and are expected to resume operations when gas begins to flow. Restoring power is one of the most significant challenges the plants are facing, the agency said.
The U.S. Gulf Coast is home to nearly half the nation's refining capacity, while offshore, the Gulf accounts for about 25 percent of domestic oil production and 15 percent of natural gas output.
Anadarko Petroleum Corp., the largest independent deep-water producer in the Gulf of Mexico, said Wednesday it had resumed production at two of its eight operated platforms, though those facilities were not in the storm's path.
Anadarko was assessing production platforms in or near Gustav's path. Initial fly-bys revealed no significant damage, but more inspections were needed, said spokesman John Christiansen.
Exxon Mobil Corp. said Wednesday that crews were returning to platforms and other offshore facilities not in Gustav's path. Those in the hurricane's path were to be inspected.
Exxon was unable to say when two refineries, one near New Orleans and the other near Baton Rouge, could restart operations.
Even though Gustav appeared to roll directly over the critically important Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, much of it along the Mississippi River from the New Orleans area north to Baton Rouge, it did not look like it had been damaged based on fly overs, said spokeswoman Barb Hestermann.
Any prolonged closure of LOOP, as it's called, could severely disrupt crude imports and their shipment to refineries. LOOP is located about 18 miles south of Grand Isle, La.
There are massive amounts of crude stored at the onshore part of the facility, which have been inaccessible.
"We still have no true assessment of the offshore facility, but we're hopeful that onshore deliveries will be outgoing to refineries by tomorrow evening," Hesterman said.
Onshore facilities have the capacity to hold 53 million barrels of oil, but the true figure is not released publicly.
Regaining power, with several storms heading across the Atlantic Ocean, is becoming an urgent matter.
With electric transmission systems running through hills, swamps and woods — coupled with the weather — getting a handle on the extent of the damage through Louisiana is proving to be challenge.
"The weather conditions are terrible," Bradley said.
Entergy said the Department of Homeland Security arranged for a pilotless drone to be flown remotely to help with the assessments.
Damage to regional electric cooperatives was extensive, according to the Energy Department. Trees had fallen on lines, poles have been snapped in half and wires are down.
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Associated Press writers John Poretto in Houston and Melinda Deslatte in Baton Rouge, La., contributed to this report.