A historic lighthouse sits at the end of the Bolivar Peninsula. The area continues to see new growth and development after being devastated by Hurricane Ike. Photo taken Wednesday, April 27, 2016 Kim Brent/The Enterprise
Kim Brent / Kim Brent/The Enterprise

Most of Bolivar Peninsula will see a daylong blackout Monday as Entergy Texas works to start up a new key piece of infrastructure for the beachside communities along the coast.

The company has been trying to get the word out for the past several weeks that residents will be without power between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on May 17 as crews work to finalize the startup of a new substation.

Entergy has said the new High Island Substation started in March 2020 will replace the older Himex Substation, doubling the amount of electric service available to the area and increasing stability during periods of peak demand or strain on the system.

Crews must wait until the older substation is “de-energized” before they can make the switch, which will require the extended outage.

“We understand that any time without power is inconvenient, and we make every attempt to limit customer interruptions,” Ron Fletcher, Entergy Texas customer service manager, said in a statement. “We appreciate the patience and understanding of our customers as our crews safely work to implement reliability improvements to serve you better.”

More electrical demand on the Bolivar Peninsula has followed the trend of growing development in the area in the past several years as more holiday home-buyers and rental companies have taken interest in the beachside communities.

For one resident, it’s a change that didn’t seem possible after the devastation of Hurricane Ike in 2008.

Anne Willis, who has been a Crystal Beach resident for more than 60 years and is a board member of the Bolivar Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, said the area has been on a gradual upswing, growing from about 400 homes a few years ago to about 6,000.

“It’s just been a constant wave of growth,” Willis said. “We’ve seen companies buy up some of the empty lots left after Ike, but there is also building on places that didn’t have development before.”

In the wake of Ike, damage reports estimated that around 62% of the structures across the Bolivar Peninsula had been destroyed or severely damaged by the 13- to 17-foot storm surge.

More than a year later, an early population assessment found that only 40% of the area’s permanent residents had returned.

The population of the Bolivar Peninsula was at more than 3,800 people in 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, but dipped down to 1,959 by 2014. Since then, the number of people living along that stretch of coast has risen 2,549, according to a 2019 population estimate.

Willis said she remembers the months without power after the September storm — and how grateful she felt when the lights finally came back on in December.

“I remember there had been some linemen sent down from Missouri and they just spent day after day working here until it was finally done,” she said. “By the time the lights were finally on, I think they were as happy as we were.”

She said she feels the coming infrastructure upgrade is a good sign for her community, both because of the stability it will bring and the sign of progress it represents.

jacob.dick@beaumontenterprise.com

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