Bringing back the power

Without lights, the Lake Charles complex became a “dark, spooky place,” said Tom Logston. “It was a real morale booster when the lights came back on.”

December, 2005 - Lake Charles employees were battling intense heat, humidity and mosquitoes; toilets didn’t work; there was no water; they hadn’t taken showers in nearly a week; and they were in the dark. Their No. 1 question was, “When will the electricity be back on?”

Tom Logston, team leader, power, and his staff felt the pressure. When the city of Lake Charles was losing electricity as Entergy Power Corp. experienced massive hurricane-caused transmission and distribution problems, Logston’s staff tried to maintain power at the plant’s power cogeneration facilities.

But the chemicals complex experienced many of the same problems — in a microcosm — that the electric company had in bringing back power: Fallen trees ripped through electric transmission and distribution lines, debris clogged the plant’s power grid and a “zillion short circuits” had to be fixed, Logston said. “We turned into scavengers to get whatever we needed to do the job,” he said. “We had mechanics working with electricians. Their work was flawless — and inspiring.”

After a few frustrating false starts in the six days following Rita’s landfall, Logston’s staff was able to restart two gas turbines and generate electricity at the power house. The next challenge was to fix every electrical fault and ground.

“We went through the complex and literally opened every breaker — thousands of them — and made a detailed plan to energize the entire complex,” he said. By the seventh day, power was restored to every part of the plant.

“We were thrilled. We went from zeroes to heroes in the flip of a switch,” he said with a laugh. “In all seriousness, we had a great sense of pride and relief. We knew all our co-workers were depending on us.”

Restoring electricity not only helped the PPG complex, but 50 megawatts from the facility was also pivotal in restoring power to the entire city of Lake Charles.

“Entergy was able to distribute some electricity generated here to the surrounding community and also to use it to restart some of its generation facilities,” Logston said. “At one point we were providing most of the city’s power. It was good to know we played a key role in helping the community.”

After restoring electrical power, the Lake Charles team had to restore another crucial element of the chemicals manufacturing process: steam generation. Miles and miles of steam lines (above) winding through the complex had gone cold since Rita brought Lake Charles to its knees. “Our goal was to restore steam without causing problems for any of the lines,” said Tom Logston. “We didn’t hammer (damage) a single line.”	Plant operators and heavy-equipment operators cut and moved dozens of trees that fell throughout the complex.	Cogeneration facilities provided electricity for the chemicals complex and helped to restore power to the City of Lake Charles in the days following Hurricane Rita.