Customers will continue to receive monthly credit due to FRP process

New Orleans, La. – Entergy New Orleans, Inc. made its 2012 formula rate plan filing with the New Orleans City Council on Thursday.

As part of the filing, Entergy New Orleans is asking to speed up the funding of the company’s storm reserve fund and for a modest reduction of the formula rate plan credit currently applied to bills of both electric and gas customers. These adjustments will result in a small increase in electric and gas customers’ existing rates, though customers will continue to receive a significant formula rate plan credit on their monthly bills.

If the entire filing is approved by the City Council, Entergy New Orleans residential electric customers would see an increase of approximately $2.51 per month based on 1,000 kilowatt hours used. Natural gas customers would see an increase of approximately $1.06 per month based on usage of 50 ccf. The rate adjustments would take place during the first billing cycle of October 2012.

“The formula rate plan process has been very beneficial to our customers,” said Charles Rice, Jr., president and chief executive officer of Entergy New Orleans, Inc. “We appreciate the City Council working with us to set up an annual rate review process that has allowed us to pass significant savings on to our customers in recent years. In 2011, our average residential electric rates were approximately 20 percent below the national average, and the requested adjustment in this year’s filing will allow us to continue to offer power at low rates to our customers while ensuring that we have the resources to continue to provide excellent service to New Orleanians.”

Thanks to four straight years of rate reductions, Entergy New Orleans electric customers have been receiving a credit of approximately 10.1 percent on their monthly bill while natural gas customers have been receiving a credit of approximately 3.6 percent. Both credits are part of a line item titled “Formula Rate Plan.” Under the proposed formula rate plan adjustment, electric customers would see a credit of approximately 8.4 percent while gas customers would see a credit of approximately 1.3 percent. Both credits would still be titled “Formula Rate Plan.”

Entergy New Orleans’ request to speed up storm reserve funding will allow it to meet the target established by the City Council of a $75 million balance by 2017. The storm reserve fund is used to help the company respond quickly to restore power after major storms and to reduce the volatility in rates that might otherwise result from storm restoration costs. Funds were withdrawn from the reserve account to help restore storm damage after hurricanes Gustav and Ike in 2008 and tropical storm Lee in 2011.

Entergy New Orleans, Inc. is an electric and gas utility serving Orleans Parish and is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation. The company provides electricity to more than 160,000 customers and natural gas to more than 100,000 customers in Orleans Parish.

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Twitter: @EntergyNOLA