At approximately 4:30 PM this date, the Benton South Substation owned by Entergy, located on S. Market Street, failed and the entire station is out of service.  This substation supplies the entire Southwest side of the city; generally including areas East of I-30, South of Carpenter Street and as far West as the area around Edison Avenue and Hwy 35. 

Entergy officials are currently on-scene evaluating the damage.  Entergy is working on delivering a portable substation to temporarily take the place of the damaged unit in an effort to resupply power to those affected.  They are still trying to determine how long it will take to have it operational, but it could take 24 hours or longer.  Attempts are being made right now to reroute power to as many of our citizens as possible during the overnight hours. 

There are currently four cooling stations that are operational now and additional locations that will open tomorrow for those that are affected by this event.  The locations are:

• The Center at Bishop Park is open now(Boone Road in Bryant)
• Northside Church of Christ is open now (next to Saline Memorial Hospital)
• 1st Christian Church is open now (Dale St. in Benton)
• 1st Pentecostal Church is open now (Interstate 30 in Benton)
• Sharon Baptist Church was open, but is now CLOSED
• Benton Middle School opens at 8AM on Aug. 4th (Cox St. in Benton)
• Calvery Baptist Church opens at 8AM on Aug. 4th(Valleyview Dr. in Benton)

All available personnel are diligently working on this issue in the hopes of restoring power as soon as possible to our residents.  For more information on this evolving situation please check the following locations:

• www.bentonpolice.org
• www.bentoncourier.com
• The Benton Police Department’s Facebook Page

The next update on the situation will be at approximately 8:00 AM on August 4th.  Residents that have further questions concerning cooling stations may call 778-1171 for more information.