Entergy adding $8 storm recovery charge to bill

NEW ORLEANS, La. (KLFY) Entergy customers in Louisiana will soon see a new charge on their bills to pay for cleanups and repairs after 2020 hurricanes Laura, Delta and Zeta and the February 2021 winter storms.

Utility regulators on Wednesday gave approval to Entergy Corp.'s Louisiana subsidiary to issue bonds to cover $3.2 billion of the repair and restoration costs related to the storms.

Entergy released a statement following the announcement:

"On Feb. 23, the Louisiana Public Service Commission approved Entergy Louisiana’s request to finance $3.2 billion in storm costs using low-cost bonds through a process called securitization...

The costs being financed are related to restoring the electric system after 2020 hurricanes Laura, Delta and Zeta and the February 2021 winter storms (approximately $2.2 billion), with the remainder being related to replenishing reserves for future storms (approximately $290 million) and creating an escrow addressing a portion of restoration costs following Hurricane Ida (approximately $1 billion).

To lessen the impact to customers’ bills, the costs will be collected over an expected 15-year term through a line item appearing on monthly bills, similar to recovery for previous hurricanes like Katrina, Gustav, Ike and Isaac. 

The monthly bill effect for a 1,000-kWh residential customer is estimated at around $8 a month but could change based on interest rates at the time of issuance of the bonds."

Entergy Louisiana said it will continue to advocate for federal disaster relief, and to any extent the company is reimbursed for a portion of storm costs, it will reduce future bill impacts related to Ida.