Line crews worked the project over a period of about eight weeks, although progress was paused at times as crews were temporarily working to restore power in the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricanes Laura and Delta.

The work was part of Entergy’s FOCUS reliability improvement program. FOCUS is an acronym for an initiative where employees “Find the device, Observe the conditions, Collect the damage, Understand the value and Succeed with results.”

Through the program, $28 million dollars have been invested in the system since 2015 to prevent outages, shorten the duration of outages when they do occur, and improve power quality throughout the Entergy system.   

The Corning project included the installation of 11 new utility poles along with upgrading or replacing dozens of insulators, switches, and lightning arrestors to fortify the system and make it more resistant to storms. Switches were installed to sectionalize the electrical system at critical locations, allowing fewer customers to be affected by outages when they do occur. In total, work was performed on more than 60 power poles during the project. 

Putting more space between power lines helps prevent outages during storms. Ultimately, the expectation is that the upgrades performed will result in fewer outages and improved power quality in the area.

For more information about how Entergy Arkansas works to continuously maintain and upgrade the electrical system, visit .

“We routinely seek opportunities to enhance reliability for our customers,” said Matt Faries, Entergy Arkansas’ customer service manager for Northeast Arkansas. “The load requirement for the 265 customers in the Riverbend Park area has increased substantially in recent years. Our design engineers identified two and a half miles of circuit along a stretch of Highway 63 and Bluff Road in Hardy for equipment upgrades. We are investing approximately $511,000 to make these upgrades.”

Faries, who worked as a design engineer early in his Entergy career and manages Entergy’s most complex business relationships in nine counties, understands the challenges of high growth areas like Riverbend Park. Given the scope of the project, he called upon contract line crews to join the local Entergy employees to make the necessary improvements.

“After months of planning and engineering, work started on the project in early July and is expected to be completed in late August,” stated Robert Stallings, Entergy’s engineer for the area that includes Hardy. “Upgrades include the installation of dozens of new utility poles, reducing the length of spans to provide better reliability, replacing and upgrading the wire size, as well as upgrading the lines from single-phase and two-phase to three-phase power.”

“Safety is a core value at Entergy. This guides the action as crews work to decrease the frequency and duration of outages when they do occur,” said Chris Stone, Entergy line supervisor for the Walnut Ridge network. “Safely installing the 70- and 80-foot-tall poles to cross the new bypass and crossing the BNSF railroad tracks are unique challenges that require special equipment and extensive planning.”

“We listen to our customers and take action whether they live in Harrison or Hughes or Hardy,” said Faries. “The electrical system is a massive and complex machine requiring constant monitoring and frequent upgrades. Between 2019 and 2021, Entergy Arkansas plans on investing two billion dollars into improving the infrastructure that generates and delivers power to customers. In fact, every county in our service territory will see improvements over the next two-to-three years. We still operate on the foundation established by of our founder Harvey Couch – providing power to customers when they need it and where they need it, making their lives easier and growing the state by attracting investment and the jobs that go with that investment.”

Entergy Arkansas provides electricity to approximately 700,000 customers in 63 counties. Entergy Arkansas is a subsidiary of ���ϳԹ��� (NYSE: ETR) is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, including 8,000 megawatts of nuclear power. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.9 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of $11 billion and approximately 13,600 employees.