We caught this on the PR Newswire, and we thought it was worth passing along on a Friday night…

Baton Rouge, La. – Even though Hurricane Irene poses no current threat to Louisiana, crews from Entergy Louisiana, LLC, Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, L.L.C. and Entergy New Orleans, Inc. are preparing to help restore power to the Washington, D.C. area after the storm hits.

Entergy will provide 170 company workers. In addition, 92 resident utility contractors, who were sent to Florida earlier this week, are relocating to Maryland. Of those numbers, the Louisiana utilities will provide 160 company and resident contract workers, which includes support personnel in safety, logistics and vegetation. The crews will be assisting Pepco Holdings, Inc. which expects to experience tropical force winds in its service territory as early as Saturday. The Louisiana crews are expected to depart for Rockville, Md. on Saturday morning to be in place on Sunday.

“We are glad to do our part to help restore power to the nation’s capital after Irene passes through the area,” said Dennis Dawsey, vice president of transmission and distribution operations for Louisiana. “We have benefited from the assistance of other companies during restoration work many times over the years so we take pride in helping others when it is our turn.”

Dawsey added that this trip is one of the farthest Louisiana crews have made in recent times. Entergy’s utility companies participate in mutual assistance agreements with utility companies across the country as well as within the Entergy family. In fact, Pepco Holdings, Inc. sent utility workers to help Entergy restore service following hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

When Entergy companies need assistance after storms, restoration workers are sent to help safely restore power to customers. The Louisiana crews heading to the Washington, D.C. area were drawn from work groups across the state, leaving enough personnel in Louisiana to manage routine day-to-day work.

Entergy’s Louisiana utility companies serve more than one million customers through the operating companies Entergy Louisiana, LLC and Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, L.L.C. With operations in southern, central and northeastern Louisiana, the companies are part of Entergy Corporation’s electric system serving 2.7 million customers in Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas.

Entergy New Orleans, Inc. is an electric and gas utility serving Orleans Parish and is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation. The company provides electricity to approximately 160,000 customers and natural gas to approximately 100,000 customers in Orleans Parish.