General gas safety rules:
- NEVER use your gas range to heat your home.
- Have qualified professionals inspect your gas heater and fireplace each year.
- Keep papers, gasoline, fluids, paints, curtains and rags away from gas appliances.
- Ensure gas appliances are vented properly.
- Keep a fire extinguisher near gas appliances at all times (carbon dioxide or dry-chemical for the kitchen).
If you lose gas service or smell a strong gas odor:
- A gas leak could be happening if you smell a distinctive natural gas odor, hear a hissing or whistling sound near a gas appliance or see dead vegetation or bubbles near a gas line.
- Leave the building immediately and call 911 and 1-800-9OUTAGE (1-800-968-8243). Entergy employees are trained to handle gas emergencies.
- Refrain from using other devices that might create a spark, such as light switches, telephones, and even computers.
- Do not re-enter the building until Entergy has told you it’s safe to do so. Gas leaking from an appliance, gas meter or broken pipeline needs immediate attention and action.
Outside the home:
- Entergy gas customers should call 811 (Louisiana One Call) before digging into the ground.
- Digging jobs such as planting a tree can damage and disrupt vital services to an entire neighborhood, harm those who dig and result in expensive repair costs.
- All utilities, including Entergy, are required to respond within two business days to locate and mark the underground utility lines.
- Entergy operates, maintains and monitors the buried gas pipelines in your area to ensure the delivery of safe and reliable gas service.
We’re committed to keeping you safe. Together, we power life.
Excess flow valves
An optional device for most Entergy gas customers
Entergy can install an excess flow valve on your natural gas service line.
- An Excess Flow Valve is a mechanical device installed on some natural gas service lines (the underground line that runs from the gas main line to the meter). It is designed to minimize or stop the flow of gas by automatically closing in the event that a service line becomes damaged. Such damage usually results from some type of digging or excavation.
- The installation of the device is not required for the normal, safe operation of the gas service line. If activated, the excess flow valve is designed to minimize or stop the flow of natural gas to a house or structure, reducing the risk of injury and/or property damage. The device does not protect against leaks at the meter or leaks beyond the meter assembly on house piping and appliances.
- Until recent years, federal law did not require excess flow valves to be installed on newly constructed or replaced service lines. Where excess flow valves were not previously required by law, it is the customer’s option to install the device at his or her expense.
- If requested, Entergy will install the excess flow valve on the customer’s service line as close as possible to the main natural gas line. It will require Entergy to dig the service line up near the street to install the device. This work will also cause gas service to be interrupted for a short period of time while the device is being installed. Gas service will be immediately restored once the installation is complete.
- The average cost to Entergy customers requesting an excess flow valve installation is expected to be approximately $1,000, but the actual installation cost varies depending on the difficulty of the installation.
- Due to gas system operating characteristics and limitations, in some instances, excess flow valves cannot be installed. Each situation will be evaluated upon request.
Updated April 2017