Leadership

Curt L. Hébert, Jr., Executive Vice President, External Affairs

Curt L. Hébert Jr. joined Entergy Corporation as Executive Vice President, External Affairs on September 1, 2001 after a lengthy career as a government energy regulator at both the federal and state levels. His responsibilities include supervision of the company’s system and federal government relations, system regulatory affairs, external and internal communications, and corporate contribution functions. He serves as a member of the Office of Chief Executive and reports to Entergy’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, J. Wayne Leonard.

Prior to becoming an Entergy executive, Hébert served four years in Washington as a presidential appointee to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. He was nominated to a Republican seat on FERC by President William J. Clinton in 1997 and was named chairman by President George W. Bush in January, 2001. At 38 years of age, Hébert became the youngest chairman in history of the FERC. The commission is an independent federal agency that, among its duties, regulates the sale of electric power intended for resale and transmission, the transportation of natural gas in interstate commerce, the siting and construction of natural gas pipelines, and the licensing and development of private hydroelectric projects on navigable waters.

During Hébert’s tenure at FERC he led efforts to restructure both the electric utility and natural gas pipeline industries to promote competition. As chairman, he initiated a market monitoring and mitigation plan for wholesale electricity prices in April of 2001, putting a mechanism in place that recognized individual heat rates and input costs of gas, emission allowances and O&M. This replaced a $150 hard cap and ended the run-up in electricity prices in the west within the very hour the order went into effect. He stepped down from the commission on August 31, 2001 to accept his position with Entergy.

Before going to Washington, Hébert was chairman of the Mississippi Public Service Commission and a leader of the Mississippi Legislature. His public service began with his 1987 election to the Mississippi House of Representatives, where he served until 1992. During that time he chaired both the House Oil and Gas Committee and the House Ways and Means Severance Subcommittee.

In 1992 Hébert was appointed by Governor Kirk Fordice to the Mississippi Public Service Commission. At age 29 he was the youngest public service commissioner in the nation and the youngest in Mississippi’s history. He was elected to a second term on the commission in 1995 and served as the commission’s chairman from 1994-1996.

Hébert is a former president of the Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and a former member of the executive committee of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. He currently sits on the board of the National Association of Manufacturers.

During his tenure at the company, Entergy has won a series of major, prestigious honors, including the Edison Award from the Edison Electric Institute in 2005 and 2002, the Global Power Company of the Year Award from Platts and Business Week in 2002, and the Global Energy Company of the Year and CEO of the Year awards from Platts and Business Week in 2003. The James C. Bonbright Utilities Center at the University of Georgia named Hébert a Bonbright Honoree in recognition of his efforts to further the understanding of the principles of regulatory economics, particularly as applied to the energy industries.

Hébert received a bachelor of science degree from The University of Southern Mississippi and a juris doctorate from Mississippi College School of Law and completed the Reactor Technology Program at MIT.

He is a member of Mississippi Bar and the Energy Bar Association.

Hébert has given presentations for the Southern Governor’s Association, Southern Gas Association, National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, Electricity Consumers Alliance of Nova Scotia, Atlantic Institute for Market Studies, World Energy Council, Harvard Electric Policy Group and many other energy forums nationally and internationally. He has also been called to testify before the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate on various energy issues. Hebert has also been widely published on the regulatory, economic and energy law issues.

Community Involvement

Hébert has been recognized by the United Way of Greater New Orleans as a member of The Alexis de Tocqueville Society, and he has been an active participant in Habitat for Humanity projects in Louisiana and Mississippi, along with many other rebuilding projects post-Katrina. He was honored with the Hope Award by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

As chairman of the Entergy Charitable Foundation, Hébert oversees the activities of a private foundation dedicated to supporting charitable organizations in the communities that Entergy serves. The Foundation's goal is to support initiatives that help create and sustain thriving communities and it has a special focus on low-income initiatives, educational and literacy programs.

Hébert serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the Foundation for the Mid South, a regional community foundation serving Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi promoting racial, social and economic equity. In 2003, he led an effort by that foundation to build wealth in low-income families through individual development accounts. The number of IDA programs since has increased to three state-wide IDA collaboratives and more than 20,000 families have been served by Mid South IDA programs.

Hébert has been a member of The University of Southern Mississippi Alumni Association Board of Directors since 2003 and currently serves as its president. He is a proud lifetime member of the Southern Miss Alumni Association and a Life Loyal Sigma Chi and has been recognized as a Significant Sig.

Updated 10/09