NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/

Although enormous difficulties remain, Entergy (NYSE: ETR) is making steady progress in restoring power to Louisiana and Mississippi customers stricken by Hurricane Katrina. As of 4 p.m. CDT today, Entergy had the electricity back on to 298,000 homes and businesses that lost power during the gigantic storm.

Some 794,000 customers remain without electrical service in Louisiana and Mississippi, however, following a record outage peak at 1.1 million earlier this week. Hurricane Katrina, the worst storm in company history, has crippled Entergy's electrical system within the city of New Orleans and extensively damaged the electrical system throughout Louisiana and Mississippi.

Electrical outages as of 4 p.m. CDT today:

Louisiana 616,658

Mississippi 177,115

Total Louisiana/ Mississippi Customers Out 793,773

Louisiana/Mississippi Customers Restored 297,588

While restoration work continues, other crews likely will need several more days to fully assess all the damage. Entergy expects a long and difficult restoration process due to the scope and amount of damage to its electrical system. Customers should be prepared for extended power outages. Restoration is being hampered by flooding, blocked access or other obstacles, especially in the heavily flooded New Orleans metropolitan area. Weakened tree limbs may cause some additional outages even as the restoration effort progresses.

The Entergy transmission system experienced outages across southeast Louisiana and across most of south central Mississippi from Hurricane Katrina. Damage assessment of the transmission system is 95 percent complete, and the restoration effort has progressed well. Entergy has been working hard to restore service for pumping, sanitation, and housing facilities in the Central Business District of New Orleans, as well as the west bank of Jefferson Parish in suburban New Orleans. Access to flooded facilities is limited and preventing detailed assessments. Salt water flooding is expected to impact substation restoration due to damaged equipment.

About 9,000 line and vegetation workers, as well as support, are committed to restoring service at this time. Extra resources continue to arrive in the Entergy service territory, and the restoration efforts continue to gain strength. Entergy continues working to bring in additional restoration personnel, but neighboring utilities also hit hard by Hurricane Katrina also are seeking additional help.

Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, and it is the second-largest nuclear generator in the United States. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.7 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $10 billion and approximately 14,000 employees.