On 8/4/11, at approximately 4:30 PM, the Benton South Substation owned by Entergy, located on S. Market Street, failed and the entire station is currently 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 has a mobile substation in place and crews are working diligently to make the necessary connections and restore power.  It is estimated that at approximately 9:00 PM this evening the mobile substation will be operational.  Some power was rerouted overnight to provide some electricity to those affected, but many are still without power at this time. 

There are currently seven cooling stations that are operational now at the following locations:

• The Center at Bishop Park (Boone Road in Bryant)
• Northside Church of Christ (next to Saline Memorial Hospital)
• 1st Christian Church (Dale St. in Benton)
• 1st Pentecostal Church (Interstate 30 in Benton)
• Sharon Baptist Church (Shenandoah Road in Benton)
• Benton Middle School opens at (Cox St. in Benton)
• Calvary Baptist Church (Valleyview Dr. in Benton)

Those citizens that have portable generators to use during this situation should take a few safety precautions.  Follow the instructions on it and never use them inside or near your home, because of the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning that can occur.  Also, do not try to power your house by plugging the generator into a wall outlet (this is called backfeeding), because this can pose a danger to utility workers and neighbors served by the same transformer. 

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 12:00 PM on August 4th.  Residents that have further questions concerning cooling stations may call 778-1171 or 776-5948 for more information.