12:23 PM CDT on Thursday, July 6, 2006

WWLTV.com

Customers of Entergy New Orleans could expect about a $45 per month increase on their utility bills under a rate hike proposed by the company.

WWL-TV

Entergy trucks head to Virginia

The hike would have to be approved by the city council.

CEO Dan Packer said the increase would amount to about a 25 percent hike, much less than the 140 percent jump the company had mentioned as possible to make up for losses from Katrina.

Packer said Entergy has instead decided to only ask for what it has spent and that the proposed increase would fund the repairs, make up for losses due to a lack of customers and begin to build a reserve for future storms.

“We’ll go back in six months and look at other expenses (that we incur) for possible rate increases,” said Packer.

Packer said possible hikes could be mitigated if the company can receive some community block grant funds to rebuild facilities badly damaged by both Katrina’s winds and the floodwaters that equipment sat in for days and sometimes weeks after the storm.

Packer also said that if more of the company’s customer base returns, the increases could be spread among more people, lowering the hikes.

Customers of Entergy have noted some blackouts recently as heavy rains and storms have hung over the area.

Packer blamed the outages on a lack of redundant systems to supply power when a main system is affected. He said the company continues to rebuild systems daily, but that it will take time.