Entergy New Orleans Files Formal Request to Join MISO

NEW ORLEANS, Nov. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- With an eye on meeting the future energy needs of its customers, Entergy New Orleans, Inc. filed a formal change of control request with the New Orleans City Council today to join a regional transmission organization, the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator or MISO.

Entergy New Orleans is seeking to transfer functional control of its transmission facilities to MISO with a target implementation date of December 2013.  The utility company will retain ownership of its generation and transmission facilities, along with responsibility for maintaining them.

Initially announced in April, Entergy New Orleans' decision to join MISO followed a lengthy period of study of various alternatives aimed at affordably and reliably meeting the long-term energy needs of the New Orleans community. The company projects that joining MISO will yield savings to customers of up to $46 million over a 10-year period, primarily due to MISO's organized power markets, which allow for a more efficient commitment and dispatch of generation resources, and to the economies of scale offered by an RTO of MISO's size.

"MISO has a well-documented record of reducing production costs while strengthening reliability," said Charles L. Rice, Jr., president and chief executive officer of Entergy New Orleans, Inc. "Extensive analysis has shown that joining MISO provides important and sustained benefits for the homes and businesses we serve in Orleans Parish.

"Becoming part of MISO's extensive, efficient and reliable energy market will help keep energy costs affordable for our customers," he added.

As New Orleans' retail regulator, the New Orleans City Council will continue its regulatory oversight of Entergy New Orleans and its facilities. Additionally, MISO membership brings the opportunity for the City Council to participate in MISO's large-scale regional planning process and its Organization of MISO States, which provides input to MISO's management team and board of directors.  

MISO operates an electrical grid across 12 states; with the addition of the Entergy New Orleans and the other Entergy operating companies, MISO will reach from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.  

Entergy New Orleans, Inc. is an electric and gas utility serving Orleans Parish and is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation. The company provides electricity to more than 160,000 customers and natural gas to more than 100,000 customers in Orleans Parish.

For a Frequently Asked Questions document, visit http://entergy.com/rto/faq.pdf

For more information, Entergy's online address is www.entergy.com.

The Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator is a non-profit 501(C)(4) organization that ensures reliable operation of, and equal access to, interconnected, high-voltage power lines in 12 U.S. states and the Canadian province of Manitoba. www.midwestiso.org.

In this news release, and from time to time, Entergy New Orleans, Inc. makes certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Except to the extent required by the federal securities laws, Entergy New Orleans undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties. There are factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, including (a) those factors discussed in: (i) Entergy Corporation's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010; (ii) Entergy Corporation's Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2011, June 30, 2011 and September 30, 2011; and (iii) Entergy Corporation's other reports and filings made under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; (b) uncertainties associated with rate proceedings, formula rate plans and other cost recovery mechanisms; (c) uncertainties associated with efforts to remediate the effects of major storms and recover related restoration costs; (d) nuclear plant relicensing, operating and regulatory risks, including any changes resulting from the nuclear crisis in Japan following its catastrophic earthquake and tsunami; (e) legislative and regulatory actions and risks and uncertainties associated with claims or litigation by or against Entergy Corporation and its subsidiaries; and (f) conditions in commodity and capital markets during the periods covered by the forward-looking statements, in addition to other factors described elsewhere in this presentation and in subsequent securities filings.

SOURCE Entergy Corporation