BATON ROUGE, La. — Entergy Louisiana was approved to add a new surcharge to customers’ bills for the next 15 years to help recuperate billions of dollars associated with repairs following recent major hurricanes.
WBRZ-TV reports that the Louisiana Public Service Commission voted 4-1 in favor of the increase on Wednesday. The utility says the surcharge will help pay back more than $3 billion it lost.
The company proposed the surcharge following Hurricane Ida which knocked out power to tens of thousands across Louisiana for weeks. The surcharge is similar to other charges made after hurricanes Katrina, Gustav, Ike and Issac.
Entergy estimates that the average effect for a 1,000-kWh residential customer would be around $8 a month.
The television station reports that Entergy customers could start seeing the additional charge on their bills as early as May 2022.
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