Louisiana PSC looks into Entergy’s response to Isaac

BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana’s utility regulatory agency is hashing out complaints over Entergy’s response to Hurricane Isaac.

The Public Service Commission conducts a hearing Wednesday, as it considers whether to level any penalties against the company for a flawed response.

More than 900,000 utility customers — or 43 percent of homes and businesses — were left without electricity after Isaac crawled ashore Aug. 28 in south Louisiana, bringing days of high winds, rain and flooding.

Commissioner Eric Skrmetta of Metairie, who proposed the investigative hearing, says he wanted to look into pre-storm preparations. He represents some of the parishes hardest hit by the storm.

Entergy’s customers made up 787,000 of the 900,000 who lost power after Isaac hit the state. The company acknowledged poor communication with its customers during Isaac’s passage.