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NATCHEZ — Forced power outages occurred across Mississippi Tuesday night to prevent prolonged outages in the future, Entergy officials said.

More than 2,200 Entergy customers in Adams County temporarily lost power Tuesday night according to Entergy’s website.

Outages started appearing in the northern part of Adams County after 7 p.m. Tuesday. After 8 p.m. power was restored.

Dustin Shack, customer service manager for Entergy, confirmed the outages were a result of mandatory rolling outages across the state.

Additional Entergy crews are on standby to restore power outages that may be caused by another storm system moving through the area Wednesday afternoon.

Freezing rain accumulating on tree limbs and power lines are likely to result in more power outages, Shack said.

“The good news is, if we take more outages from this system we have extra help,” Shack said.

Entergy Mississippi posted about Tuesday’s mandatory power outages on their social media page Tuesday evening.

“Mandatory rolling outages that began at 7 p.m. have ended, for now, and we have returned the system to normal operations. All customers affected by this directive were restored by 9 p.m. Thank you very much for your patience and your voluntary conservation of power as we work through this difficult situation,” the post states.

“The company took this action at the direction of our reliability coordinator, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, as a last resort to prevent a more extensive, prolonged power outage that could severely affect the reliability of the power grid. All Entergy operating companies, as well as other members of MISO, participated in the outages.”

Entergy is asking customers to conserve electricity to reduce the strain on electrical systems during severe winter weather.

Entergy asks that customers in the area affected by the winter storm practice the following measures to reduce the impact of storm-related power loss.

• Lower their central thermostat to 68 degrees or lower if possible.
• Don’t allow warm air to escape from the home.
• Delay laundry, washing dishes, bathing and other non-essential uses of electricity.
• Wash clothes with cold water, cook foods at the lowest possible setting and limit opening oven doors while baking.
• Turn off or don’t use non-essential lights and electric appliances.

Additional power outages are still possible with another winter storm system moving into the area Wednesday afternoon and Thursday, with the accumulation of ice on trees and powerlines and an increase in electrical use, Entergy states.

“We continue to face challenges related to the cold temperatures, so please be mindful of your electricity usage to help prevent the need for any additional forced outages. We’re not out of the woods yet, so please continue to conserve energy.”