2021 has not treated the Gulf Coast much better. Hurricane Ida made landfall on August 29 as a dangerous Category 4 hurricane near Port Fourchon, LA, with sustained winds of 150 mph and gusts reaching 172 mph.

Ida’s fury resulted in some communities being temporarily uninhabitable, due to storm surges that were more than 15 feet high, tornadoes, and flooding. With more than 30,000 power poles damaged or destroyed, the devastation that Ida caused to the distribution system was greater than that caused by Hurricanes Katrina, Ike, Delta, and Zeta combined.

When monster storms and other extreme weather events ravage cities and towns, the electric power industry’s mutual assistance network can be counted on to respond in force, working together to bring a community back to life. Thanks to our mutual assistance partners, Entergy mobilized its largest restoration workforce in company history, beating our own record set less than one year ago.

More than 28,000 workers from at least 41 states and the District of Columbia deployed amid a pandemic to assist Entergy and other electric companies impacted by Ida. These crews worked around the clock for long hours in the Louisiana heat and humidity, not to mention in marshy and other challenging conditions, to restore power safely and as quickly as possible to grateful communities across Louisiana and Mississippi. From the bottom of our heart, the entire Entergy team and our customers thank them for aiding us in our time of need.

Well before a hurricane like Ida makes landfall, industry and government begin coordinating at the highest levels through the CEO-led Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC) to ensure an effective and efficient response. Throughout the response to Ida, the ESCC convened calls with impacted electric companies and senior officials from the Departments of ���ϳԹ��� and Homeland Security, FEMA, the Federal ���ϳԹ��� Regulatory Commission, and the National Security Council to receive updates on damage assessments and the restoration progress and to ensure that all equipment, material, and workforce needs were being met.

As the leader of one of those impacted companies, I can attest to how valuable this coordination is and how eager our industry and government partners are to assist and to help troubleshoot challenges.

In addition to the ESCC calls, I was joined by Southern Company Chairman, President, and CEO Tom Fanning, who co-chairs the ESCC, and EEI President Tom Kuhn to brief President Biden, ���ϳԹ��� Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall, and other senior administration officials on the restoration efforts and some of the challenges that were identified through the damage assessments. We also discussed how recent investments in smarter and stronger energy infrastructure are proving effective.

At Entergy, we have had the opportunity—although during unfortunate circumstances— to put our newer equipment and structures to the test. These assets, which are designed to withstand winds of 150 mph, performed well in Hurricanes Laura and Ida.

For example, along a transmission path where Ida made landfall on the coast, fewer than 1% of the more than 380 newer, more resilient structures were damaged. On seven other regional transmission lines, about 99 percent of more than 1,500 structures were undamaged.

Making investments in resilience and constructing stronger poles, towers, and power plants are not small investments, and there must be balance among affordability, reliability, and environmental sustainability.

We are committed to working across the industry and with our government partners and to having conversations about how best to harden infrastructure and to make it more resilient against these more frequent and intense storms and extreme weather events.

LEO P. DENAULT is chairman and CEO of ���ϳԹ���.��This article was originally published in the November/December 2021 issue of ���������������Ա�.

The Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC) serves as the principal liaison between the federal government and the electric power sector, with the mission of coordinating efforts to prepare for, and respond to, national-level disasters or threats to critical infrastructure. The ESCC includes electric company CEOs and trade association leaders representing all segments of the industry.

From COVID-19 and nationwide protests for racial justice, to the multiple hurricanes that have affected our service territory, our communities have faced unprecedented challenges. However, as devastating and disruptive as these times are for everyone, those most heavily impacted are those living in poverty, (low-wage working families). These low-income, older adults and people with disabilities make up roughly 40%-50% of our customer base.��

Our mission is to create sustainable value for our stakeholders: customers, employees, communities and owners. Our future is inextricably tied to theirs, and as we progress, so should they. That’s why Entergy is committed to supporting our most vulnerable customers.��

Two decades ago, we revised our customer service policies, placing greater emphasis on our customers’ fundamental needs, and launched our low-income customer initiative.��

In the 20 years since, we have introduced several highly effective and innovative ways to benefit low-income customers. We established the Entergy Charitable Foundation, The Power to Care and , and worked to help customers claim their during tax season.��

As a result, our low-income customer initiative has helped power the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. We not only keep their power on and gas flowing, but work to put them on the path to economic self-sufficiency. These programs have helped our customers reduce debt, increase their assets, improve their credit ratings, become homeowners, and access opportunities for education and job training.��

As we mark the 20^th anniversary of our low-income customer initiative, we know the fight isn’t over. We can only become the premier utility if our most vulnerable customers have the resources they need during future crises like those we have seen in 2020. To this end, we have renewed our commitment to serve low-income customers for the next 20 years by expanding our poverty solutions to help more customers in need.��

All our stakeholders benefit from our commitments to our most vulnerable customers. As they rise, we all rise, something we can all be thankful for.

Thank you,
Leo Denault
Chairman and CEO, ���ϳԹ���

Two Decades of Progress

Entergy has helped power the lives of thousands of customers in the 20 years since the company launched its low-income customer initiative:

• $57 million donated to The Power to Care has helped more than 225,000 customers in need. 100% of contributions go to help elderly and disabled customers living on low or fixed incomes.

• Through Entergy’s Super Tax Day program, employee volunteers helped 160,000 customers receive $280 million in Earned Income Tax Credit refunds. The result: an estimated $420 million in economic benefits to communities served by Entergy.��

• 7 million customer bills paid through FINA, Entergy’s financial assistance program. FINA allows charitable organizations/agencies to pay all or some of a low-income customer’s utility bill using federal Low Income Home ���ϳԹ��� Assistance Program funds.��

• Employees helped 60,000 elderly customers “Beat the Heat” by partnering with nonprofit agencies each summer to provide fans to qualifying low-income customers.

But in Louisiana we have a particular way of facing hardships. Give us a hurricane or a flood and we show up — neighbors serving neighbors and strangers alike in communities across the state. In “normal” times, volunteers work to create vibrant, healthy and growing communities. And even in 2020, Louisianians are stepping up by volunteering virtually, donating money, food and services, making masks, giving blood and much, much more.

The spirit of kindness and service from Louisianians is one of the greatest attributes of our state.

And we are not the only ones who see it. Our culture of caring was recently recognized at the national level when two companies headquartered here in Louisiana — and — were named to the prestigious Points of Light Civic 50 list, an honor that recognizes the top 50 most community-minded companies in the United States.

“The spirit of kindness and service from Louisianians is one of the greatest attributes of our state.” – Leo Denault and Dr. Steven Udvarhelyi

The Points of Light Foundation pointed to both organizations’ mutual commitment to improving lives by volunteering, collaborating and investing in community programs that advocate for social, economic, educational and environmental initiatives across Louisiana.

Bringing this distinction home to Louisiana shows how the tradition of volunteerism here is something people around the country notice. This is something we should all be proud of.

Together, our companies represent nearly 8,000 Louisiana employees. Last year, these employees volunteered more than 87,000 hours and gave $1.7 million out of their own pockets to Louisiana nonprofits. We would like to thank and honor these employees, and all Louisianians, who are sowing the seeds of hope throughout Louisiana, even in the face of great obstacles

As leaders, we commit to leveraging our philanthropy to build connections that will ignite even greater change across our communities for future generations and create a more healthy, just and inclusive tomorrow.

We challenge other members of the business community to join with us as we work to make Louisiana everything it can be for everyone who calls our state home.

I. STEVEN UDVARHELYI, M.D.
president, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana
Baton Rouge

LEO DENAULT
chairman, Entergy Corp.
New Orleans

Letter originally published in the Nov. 30, 2020, edition of , The Acadiana Advocate and The New Orleans Advocate.

Over time, the use of mutual assistance has evolved and matured to meet the changing nature and growing scale of the threats our industry faces. Hurricane Katrina (which devastated my state of Louisiana in 2005) and Superstorm Sandy (which struck the Northeast in 2012) showed that severe regional incidents can stress our mutual assistance networks beyond regional capabilities. Following those storms, it was clear our industry needed to examine and strengthen our approach for supporting major restoration efforts.

EEI’s member companies came together in 2013 to take a fresh look at how our segment of the industry approaches mutual assistance. As a result, the National Response Event (NRE) framework was created, giving investor-owned electric companies the tools, resources, and flexibility they need for responding to large-scale events. As part of the NRE framework, EEI member companies now can work quickly across the country to allocate crews and equipment—including, but not limited to, helicopters, drones, high-water vehicles, and transformer parts—until all restoration needs are met. The NRE framework scales individual company response capabilities to the national level, while enhancing the trust, partnership, and operational discipline inherent in the regional mutual assistance networks.

“Over time, the use of mutual assistance has evolved and matured to meet the changing nature and growing scale of the threats our industry faces.”

The historic 2017 hurricane season tested mutual assistance and the NRE framework. First, in August 2017, our industry responded to Hurricane Harvey, which cut power to more than a quarter million customers and brought devastating floods to parts of Louisiana and Texas. Using the NRE framework and the regional mutual assistance groups, EEI member companies helped to mobilize a restoration workforce of 10,000 lineworkers and support personnel that included crews from the impacted companies, as well as all segments of the industry.

Soon after completing the mission in Texas and Louisiana, our industry faced an even greater challenge. In September 2017, Hurricane Irma tore through the center of Florida, cutting power to 6.7 million customers— nearly two-thirds of the state’s customers. With the help of the NRE framework and the regional mutual assistance groups, impacted EEI member companies were supported by an army of more than 60,000 workers from across the United States and Canada that quickly restored power in Florida and other impacted states. It was one of the largest and most complex power restoration efforts in the industry’s recent history.

Since Harvey and Irma, our industry has continued to refine and supplement the NRE “toolbox.” We regularly update and enhance our online mutual assistance resource management tool, RAMP-UP. Last year, we implemented a two-tier system—a Level 1 NRE provides enhanced support for events that impact only one region, while a Level 2 NRE allows for a national allocation of resources for multi-region incidents.

More recently, the entire industry came together to ensure that our mutual assistance programs can continue to function despite the significant safety risks created by the COVID-19 global pandemic. During the early spread of the virus, many companies began examining how to respond to power outages safely during a health emergency. Every electric company wants to restore service as quickly as possible, but this only can be done if our employees, mutual assistance partners, contractors, and customers are appropriately safe.

In February, nearly a month before the World Health Organization declared a pandemic, several executives responsible for the NRE framework, led by Entergy’s Director of Incident Response Louie Dabdoub, started identifying mitigation and protection measures. As part of the evolving pandemic response, these NRE leaders brought their work to a mutual assistance “tiger team” stood up by the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC) to develop planning considerations for safely conducting mutual assistance. The team worked across all three segments of the industry to develop the COVID-19 Mutual Assistance Checklist, which was distributed in the publicly available ESCC Resource Guide and embraced by the industry.

“More recently, the entire industry came together to ensure that our mutual assistance programs can continue to function despite the significant safety risks created by the COVID-19 global pandemic.”

The checklist provides guidance for both requesting and responding companies on how to conduct mutual assistance missions safely during the pandemic. Among other recommendations, it outlines safe work practices, such as keeping crews from different companies or locations intact and isolated from one another; minimizing or downsizing staging sites; avoiding large meetings or briefings; and using technology for onboarding and information sharing. It also encourages crews to follow recognized COVID-19 health practices, including the use of personal protective equipment and ensuring plenty of separation between workers during meals and in lodging.

As we enter the peak of this year’s hurricane and wildfire seasons, the industry already has faced severe weather incidents, including most recently Hurricane Hanna, Tropical Storm Isaias, and the Midwest derecho, and has used the COVID-19 Mutual Assistance Checklist to send and receive mutual assistance support. During the April 2020 storms, companies like Entergy restored power for customers while also keeping crews separated and safe by using distributed staging sites and provided mutual assistance responders with lodging and site support services that met social distancing guidelines.

We have made these strides—and strengthened our approach to mutual assistance—because of the level of trust and communication our industry has built over the last decade. This culture of partnership across all segments of the industry has allowed us to adapt and change, regardless of the threat. As we look to the future, we know other events will arise to test our industry, and we are prepared to meet these challenges and our customers’ needs for reliable, affordable energy.

LEO P. DENAULT is chairman and CEO of ���ϳԹ���, an integrated energy company that delivers electricity to 2.9 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.

Article originally published in the July/August 2020 issue of magazine.

The reality is that while we’ve seen the stories of these two men on the news and in social media, we know that there are countless other stories that have not been told. Stories of people living in the communities we serve and across the nation who are struggling to have their voices heard as they seek equality, peace and justice.��

As heart wrenching and uncertain as these past few weeks have been, they have also served as a springboard for a national dialogue about how we can bridge our racial and economic divides to help change our society for the better.��

At Entergy, our vision is focused on powering life. Building on our vision, we established a mission in 2013 to create sustainable value for all our stakeholders: our customers, employees, communities and owners. We recognize that as one stakeholder benefits, all should benefit. Equally, when one stakeholder suffers, all suffer.��

As our human rights statement outlines, “Entergy respects the human rights of all individuals.” We remain steadfast in our commitment to elevate our communities through tangible actions like ensuring diversity among our and , establishing and retention programs that help our workforce reflect the rich diversity of the communities in which we operate, spending our money with diverse suppliers and business partners, and investing our volunteer time and financial resources to build a diverse pipeline of talent while also contributing to the economic livelihood of our regions. We will continue to move forward in these areas and you have my commitment, along with that of the entire Entergy leadership team, that we won’t retreat from our obligations – personally and professionally.��

With a workforce of more than 13,000 across Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Arkansas, New York and Michigan, we leave no room at Entergy for racism, discrimination or intolerance, but rather seek to achieve our vision and mission through diversity and inclusion of all people and their unique ideas, backgrounds, perspectives, religions and cultures.��

We do these things because we know that our actions toward creating real and meaningful change will speak much louder than words.

A key message I always drive home when speaking to customers, owners, employees and communities about Entergy’s core mission is that creating sustainable value for our stakeholders is a commitment we adhere to and work towards every day of the year.

That commitment has led Entergy to be named to the for the 16^th consecutive year, by S&P Dow Jones Indices and RobecoSAM, an investment specialist focused exclusively on sustainability investing. It’s an honor to be included in this highly regarded list, which signals to Entergy’s key stakeholders that our company is operating responsibly, planning for the future, providing excellent service to our customers and building and maintaining a thriving workforce.

The Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index highlights the performance of the top 20 percent of the 600 largest Canadian and United States companies in the S&P Global Broad Market Index who lead the field in terms of sustainability. Only companies that excel in developing and implementing long-term economic, environmental and social strategies and actions are included in the index.

Perfect scores for Entergy were in the areas of labor practice indicators, climate strategy, biodiversity and water-related risks. The hard work and dedication of our employees as they continually seek ways to add value to our services are the key to Entergy’s long history of outstanding performance in these and other areas.

The recognition reinforces our vision, We Power Life, as we take the right steps to ensure a bright future for all our stakeholders.

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