GULFPORT, MS – Ten days after Hurricane Katrina made landfall, Mississippi Power employees and outside workers have restored service to 88 percent of the company’s customers who can receive power.
“More than 143,000 of our customers now have power,” said Kurt Brautigam, company spokesman. “The pace of the restoration is increasing and we believe we’ll have 98 percent of our customers, of those who can receive power, on by Saturday night, 12 days after the worst catastrophe in our company’s history.
“As we are finishing the restoration in various areas of our service territory, we are turning our attention to other utilities in our area to assist them however we can. We are beginning to release our tree trimmers and other outside crews wherever they’re needed.”
Customers who can receive power and have not been restored by noon Saturday are asked to call and report their location. Mississippi Power’s outage reporting number is 1-800-ITS-DARK (800-487-3275). To speak with a customer service representative, call 1-800-353-9777.
Outage numbers
Customer restoration totals by division as of 6 a.m. 9/9/05:
Coast 59,394 90%
Pine Belt 46,586 78%
Meridian 37,260 100%
The company estimates that approximately 163,000 of its 195,000 customers will be able to receive service during the initial restoration.
Mississippi Power announces procedures for restoring service to damaged homes
In cases where there is no visible damage to the customer’s electrical facilities, Mississippi Power will restore service following normal procedures after verifying that all facilities are in good working order.
In cases where there is no visible damage to the customer’s electrical facilities, but it appears that flood waters have exceeded the height of the electrical receptacles, service will not be restored. If the customer is insistent that repairs have been made and that service should be restored, they can sign a release form that states they understand that they bear responsibility for any physical or property damage that may result from doing so. The customer’s circuit breakers will then be turned off and service restored, and it will be the customer’s responsibility to turn the circuit breakers back on.
In cases where there is visible damage to the customer’s electrical facilities, service will not be restored.
Mississippi Power announces the status of its customer service offices
The following bill payment offices are now open: Forest, Heidelberg, Laurel, Meridian, Newton, Quitman, Stonewall, Taylorsville and Union.
The following bill payment offices will open September 12: Columbia, Ellisville, Hattiesburg, Leakesville, Lucedale, Lumberton, Picayune, Poplarville, Purvis, Sumrall and Waynesboro.
The following offices will not open until further notice: Bay St Louis, Bay Springs, Biloxi, Gulfport, Moss Point, Ocean Springs, Pascagoula, Pass Christian, Richton and Wiggins.
Customers can mail bills to the P.O. Box address on their bill (P.O. Box 245, Birmingham, AL 35201)
Mississippi Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company, serves 195,000 customers in 23 Southeast Mississippi counties. For more information and daily updates on the company’s progress toward restoring service, go to www.mississippipower.com.
With more than 4 million customers and nearly 39,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the premier super-regional energy company in the Southeast and a leading U.S. producer of electricity. Southern Company owns electric utilities in four states, a growing competitive generation company and a competitive retail natural gas business, as well as fiber optics and wireless communications. Visit the Southern Company Web site at www.southerncompany.com.