New Orleans, La. – Corporate
Responsibility Officer magazine has selected Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR) for
its 10 Best Corporate Citizens in 2007, an annual list that provides clear
visibility to corporate citizenship leaders within the chemical, energy,
financial, media and utility industries. For the utility industry, Entergy
ranked number one out of 88 North American companies evaluated.
The CRO distinction comes on the
heels of Entergy’s other notable achievements in 2007: listed on the Dow Jones
Sustainability Index and Climate Disclosure Leadership Index for its financial,
social and environmental performance; named by Forbes magazine as one of
“America’s Most Trustworthy Companies” for accounting transparency and fair
dealing to stakeholders; and, rated top utility by Institutional Shareholder
Services for corporate governance, outperforming 99.8 percent of companies in
the S&P 500.
The CRO, a corporate membership
organization for corporate responsibility officers, drew upon a broad base of
data to evaluate environmental, social, governance and financial issues. The CRO
enlisted a consulting firm, IW Financial, to analyze each company’s performance
in eight categories: environment, climate change, human rights, employee
relations, corporate governance, lobbying, philanthropy and financial. As part
of the research process, IW Financial relied on data from several sources
including company financial disclosures, sustainability reports and
Environmental Protection Agency databases. The final designation of the “10
Best” companies was determined by averaging the ranks within the eight
categories.
“Entergy is steadfast in its
commitment to corporate responsibility,” said J. Wayne Leonard, Entergy’s
chairman and CEO. “We are always mindful of our moral responsibilities to our
employees, customers, shareholders and communities. We strive to be the company
you want to do business with, where you want your children to work and where you
want to invest your money.”
In leading the pack for the utility
industry, Entergy ranked first overall and scored in the top quartile in seven
of the eight categories evaluated: human rights, corporate governance,
environment, climate change, philanthropy, financial and employee relations. A
complete list of the CRO’s “10 Best” companies and rankings by industry is
available on the CRO Web site (www.thecro.com).
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 2.6 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi
and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $10 billion and
approximately 14,500 employees.
-30-
Entergy’s online address is www.entergy.com.