EDGARD — Entergy officials Kerry Jones and Aaron Harris were questioned this week about a rash of recent power outages in St. John the Baptist Parish.

Parish Councilman Larry Snyder said many residents experienced outages in early June, late July and most recently on Aug. 8.

“Have we found out the reason for the outages?” Snyder asked of the Entergy representatives, adding many of his constituents rely on power, including air conditioning, “for their survival in some cases.”

Harris, a network specialist with Entergy, said the outages in June and July were caused by a small and isolated device known as a recloser. He said crews found the route, which runs a straight line down Airline Highway, was initially clean.

Crews eventually identified the problem as the recloser, which proved also to be the culprit in the July shutdown.

“We have taken the recloser off line,” Harris assured Council members.

The power discussion took place this week as part of Tuesday’s Parish Council meeting at the St. John Parish Courthouse in Edgard.

Regarding the most recent outage, Jones said the problem appears to have been a cross bar, and Harris said that problem also has been resolved. He said the circuit is one of the biggest in the area.

According to Jones, the August shutdown occurred at 4 a.m. and impacted 4,596 customers. Power was restored in less than 90 minutes, he said.

He said Entergy is looking at ways to segment the circuit in a way that not so many customers will lose power during an outage.

“If the meter is not turning, we are not making any money,” he said.

— By Richard Meek