Entergy Arkansas will cut electricity rates beginning next month for the 730,000 customers it serves across the state. Average residential customers should see monthly bills drop by $10 per month and carrying through to next March, the company said Thursday.
The company, Arkansas' largest utility, said it will let customers enjoy cost-savings that the electric provider has experienced, including fuel rates that have dropped to their lowest in 10 years.
"Although our rates are consistently lower than the regional and national average, we continue to keep affordability for our customers at the forefront of our decisions," Ventrell Thompson, vice president of customer service, said Thursday in announcing the rate cut. "The total decrease customers see on their bills will vary based on their individual energy usage but comes at a time when our customers need bill relief and will extend during the upcoming hot summer months."
The average residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month will see a decrease of $10.01 in their total bills -- a 7.49% drop, the company said. Commercial and industrial customers could see anywhere from a 1.6% to 17.7% decrease, depending on their monthly usage.
The decrease is in response to a lower fuel rate, known as the Energy Cost Recovery Rider (ECR), which is reviewed every year and adjustments are passed on to customers. The redetermined ECR rate will decrease from $0.01883 per kWh to $0.00882 per kWh – the lowest it has been in more than a decade.
The fuel rate reflects the charge Entergy Arkansas pays for fuel to generate electricity and wholesale prices paid for additional electricity. The new rate is effective until March 2025, unless an interim adjustment is needed, the company said.
Entergy relies on natural gas, nuclear, coal, oil and hydroelectric power plants, along with renewable energy resources, to deliver electricity to Arkansans in 63 counties.
That diverse fuel sourcing allows the company "to produce electricity at the lowest cost possible," said William Cunningham, director of resource planning. "In fact, our consistently low rates help make our state an attractive place for new and existing businesses to grow and expand."
More than 71% of Entergy's total energy production in 2023 came from clean nuclear energy, while natural gas powered about 15% of energy production last year.
In addition to Entergy Arkansas' three solar facilities currently in operation -- in Chicot, Searcy and Stuttgart – the company projects another 530 megawatts of new solar generation will be available this year with plants near Brinkley and in West Memphis and Mississippi County. Construction of two other facilities with total capacity 400 megawatts each is expected to be completed next year as well and the plants should start generating power.
Customers can find the ECR change reflected in the "Fuel and Purchased Cost" line item on monthly bills.