Miss. Regulators OK Small Entergy Rate Increase

BY JEFF AMY
Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. — The Mississippi Public Service Commission is approving a new rate plan for Entergy, Mississippi’s largest private electrical utility.

Commissioners voted unanimously for the plan Thursday. It will take effect with February bills.

The plan increases overall rates by $16.2 million a year. A residential customer who uses 1,000 kilowatt hours per month would see bills increase by $1.75 a month to about $110 a month. However, because a separate fuel charge ends in January, bills will actually fall slightly.

The charge for connecting to Entergy’s grid would rise 25 percent from $6.37 to $7.97 a month for residential customers.

Under the deal, the unit of New Orleans-based Entergy Corp. agreed not to seek payment for about $60 million it spent planning a now-shelved expansion of its Grand Gulf nuclear plant.