State electric firms file rate alterations
Entergy Arkansas’ electric rate will increase 2.9 percent beginning today, the state’s largest electric utility said in a filing with the Public Service Commission.
The utility, which has about 700,000 customers in the state, said it is raising the rate because its cost for energy will rise by 2.9 percent for the summer.
Utilities in Arkansas are required to file a “fuel and purchased power cost” adjustment each spring with the commission, said John Bethel, executive director of the commission’s general staff. The utilities are not allowed to make a profit on the cost of fuel, Bethel said.
An Entergy Arkansas customer who had a $100 electric bill last summer will see an increase to $102.90.
Oklahoma Gas & Electric Co., which has customers in the Fort Smith area, will lower bills by about 1.6 percent, Bethel said.
Northwest Arkansas’ Empire District customers will see a rate increase of 9.5 percent, Bethel said.
Southwestern Electric Power Co., with about 115,000 customers in western Arkansas, has been allowed a filing extension.
- David Smith
Hot Springs hospital sale to be revealed
The anticipated acquisition of Mercy Hospital in Hot Springs by Catholic Health Initiatives of Denver will be announced today.
Peter Banko, chief executive officer of Little Rock-based St. Vincent Health System, owned by Catholic Health, will hold a teleconference for news organizations at 11 a.m., to be followed by a news conference at 1 p.m. at Mercy Hospital.
Mercy Hot Springs is owned by Mercy Health of Chesterfield, Mo., also a Catholic health-care chain.
Regulatory and church approvals are not expected to be an issue.
- Jack Weatherly
State index jumps 6.11 to close 335.42
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, climbed 6.11 to 335.42 Monday.
“Stocks closed higher on this final trading day of March after Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen indicated that the current condition of the labor market warrants maintenance of an accommodative interest rate policy for the foreseeable future,” said Bob Williams, senior vice president and managing director of Delta Trust Investments Inc. in Little Rock.
Tyson Foods established a 52-week high during the session, Williams said.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business, Pages 23 on 04/01/2014