Green Articles
Entergy costs high because of natural gas
By Scott Satchfield : WWL-TV : February 29, 2008
Some Entergy customers can’t believe their eyes when they open their bills these days.
Yet, Entergy said there’s not much the company can do to change things for now.
The high prices have become another hurdle for businesses and homeowners to overcome.
Businesses like Slice, an Uptown pizzeria that is selling plenty of pizza, but shelling out more money on utilities than in the past.
“I’ve seen the same thing I’ve seen at my house,” restauranteur David Greengold said. “I’ve seen a 25 percent jump across the board.”
The culprit – soaring national gas prices that drive up the costs for many businesses to operate.
“Put that in with all the extra expenses we have now with our insurance bills and, even in some cases, taxes, and it gets to be quite a hurdle to overcome,” Greengold said.
Entergy officials said they hear plenty of complaints, but for now, the price of natural gas is “volatile.”
“We buy it at the cost of the fuel itself off the commodity markets,” Entergy spokesman Morgan Stewart said. “Therefore, we’re subject or the customer’s subject to the price of the natural gas at the time the consumer is using it.”
Two factors can increase your monthly bill – a fuel adjustment charge helps the utility company recover cost of the fuel used to generate electricity, and a purchase adjustment, which recovers the fuel cost of the gas customers use to heat a house or use to cook with.
Entergy officials said their hands are tied, but some consumer advocates disagree.
“But we are concerned that there are other fees and charges within the fuel adjustment charge that could be addressed and explained better or reduced or taken away,” said Karen Wimpelberg with the Alliance for Affordable Energy.
The high costs, though, aren’t new. And if you live in Orleans Parish, it can be even more expensive.
“For Entergy New Orleans that has recently come out of bankruptcy, we may pay higher contract costs, which go into the fuel charge, and again, that's just a fixed cost for the cost of the fuel and the cost of the transportation of the fuel from the gas companies to Entergy New Orleans to the customer,” Stewart said.