A story in today's Independent Weekly raises questions about Entergy's response in the wake of Hurricane Gustav and whether the untility company neglected to maintain its lines and poles, and now it appears that the state Public Service Commission wants to know more its maintenance program as well.
Today's Advocate reports that Baton Rouge customers have told regulators that electricity crews from other states complained about the lack of maintenance of the poles and lines that fell during the storm and caused widespread power outages.
Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Jimmy Field of Baton Rouge asked his staff to gather the recollections of those conversations from Entergy’s Baton Rouge customers, according to The Advocate.
Field plans to turn over the information to an outside expert the PSC hopes to soon hire to scrutinize Entergy’s and other utility companies’ handling of Gustav. The PSC also wants the outside investigator to interview the recovery workers, he said.