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Customer bills are lowest in several years
Baton Rouge, La. – November electric
bills for Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, L.L.C. customers are down more than 34
percent from last year and are the lowest they have been in more than seven
years.
Thanks in part to lower natural gas
prices and a one-time refund, Entergy Gulf States Louisiana customers who use
1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity in November can expect to see a bill of
$70.29. That’s more than $35 lower than last November’s costs of $107.16 for
1,000 kWh and reflects a drop of 34.4 percent.
The savings is chiefly driven by a
drop in natural gas prices. The price of natural gas peaked at a cost of more
than $13.50 per MMBtu in July of 2008 before falling to as low as $3.58 per
MMBtu earlier this year. The Henry Hub price for the beginning of November was
$4.28 per MMBtu. The reduction is also helped by a one-time credit of $4.37 per
1,000 kWh that is the result of the company’s recent formula rate plan
settlement with the Louisiana Public Service Commission.
“We are pleased that the reduction in
the price of natural gas has led to lower electricity costs for our customers,”
said Entergy spokesman Philip Allison. “We are fortunate to be able to pass
along decreases at a time when the holidays are approaching and many customers
are experiencing challenges from the current economy.”
In addition to lower bills, Entergy
customers in Louisiana are also benefiting from proactive maintenance practices
that have steadily reduced the number of outages by nearly 25 percent since
2004.
“We monitor the frequency and
duration of outages on a daily basis,” Allison said. “It allows us to identify
areas that need to be inspected and proactively address potential issues that
could affect reliability before it becomes a problem for the customer.”
Entergy’s Louisiana utility companies
serve more than one million customers through the operating companies Entergy
Louisiana, LLC and Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, L.L.C. With operations in
southern, central and northeastern Louisiana, the companies are part of Entergy
Corporation’s electric system serving 2.7 million customers in Louisiana,
Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas.
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entergy-louisiana.com
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