Why Entergy is paying YOU $8 a month

Energy Regulatory Commission orders refunds for overcharges; your share of the pie: 4% of bill

From now until the beginning of next year, Entergy Louisiana customers should start seeing some additional digits on their energy bill, but not in the form of a new charge as $91 million in refunds are set to start rolling out over the next six months.

The average customer will get $8 a month based on energy usage, enough for a movie matinee or a couple of gallons of gas and, perhaps, an icy-cold soft drink.

But any break in the price of electricity is a welcome change of pace for Des Allemands resident Charles Gifford.

“It’s not going to put me in a higher tax bracket, that’s for sure,” Gifford said. “But I’ll take any money they’re willing to give back.”

The money is part a so-called “rough equalization program,” according to officials from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission who ordered the credits.

Over the next six months, Entergy customers of Arkansas will pay an additional $251 million in their energy bills which will be used to credit accounts of customers in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi.

The credits will be issued as a result of a six-year legal battle between Entergy and the Louisiana Public Service Commission in which the PSC claimed the utility company had failed over the years to evenly distribute cost amongst its multi-state network.

Under the agreement, Entergy Louisiana customers will be credited $5.79 per 1000-kilowatt hours used, or around four percent from now until the beginning of 2008.

During the summer months, Entergy says the average kilowatt usage in a typical home is about 1,400 kilowatts, which would result in a monthly credit of around $8.