FERC Ruling Permits Entergy Arkansas to Withdraw from System Agreement
A November 19 ruling by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will allow Entergy Arkansas to withdraw from a System Agreement with the other Entergy companies. In December 2005 Entergy Arkansas notified the System Agreement participants that it intended to withdraw from the agreement as of December 2013.
Entergy Arkansas's withdrawal was prompted by the action of Louisiana regulators, which had caused some of the cost of Entergy Louisiana's more expensive natural gas fueled generating plants to be shifted to Arkansas rate payers. Entergy Arkansas generates electric power primarily through nuclear and coal fired plants.
According to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, FERC's ruling will save Entergy's Arkansas customers about $218 per year.
Other Important Points:
- If FERC does not permit a rehearing, the Louisiana regulators can appeal to the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
- As FERC Chairman John Wellinghof points out, the ruling "will allow Entergy and any interested party to engage in meaningful negotiations for a successor arrangement to the System Agreement to be in effect prior to the withdrawal of Entergy Arkansas. . . ."
