<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The Informer last week received a call from a reader who was wondering about the storm restoration charges on her Entergy bill.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The charges, which cover hurricane repair costs, will be on Entergy Louisiana bills well into the next decade — until 2018 for the share associated with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita; until 2022 for the share for Hurricanes Gustav and Ike; and until 2024 for Hurricane Isaac’s share.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">For that reader, and any others wondering about the charges, today’s Informer reprints a column from Oct. 2 that addressed the charges. The column, along with other recent questions and answers, appears on www.americanpress.com.</span>

<span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: ‘Lucida Sans’;" class="R~sep~ACopyBody">On my Entergy bill, what is the “PSC Case Credit,” why do I have to pay $4.46 a month for power outage text alerts when I have a landline and why do I pay $48.36 a month into a coffer for Entergy in case they should ever have a Rita-like storm again to help them deal with it?</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">According to the bill explainer on Entergy Louisiana’s website, the case credit — sometimes a case charge — is related to a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission directive that is “designed to roughly balance the production costs of Entergy’s Operating Companies in Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Texas.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“A credit for this line item would appear on your bill as a result of payments made to your electric service provider by other Entergy Operating Companies that had lower production costs in a given year,” reads the site.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“A charge for this line item would appear on your bill as a result from payments made by your electric service provider to other Entergy Operating Companies that had higher production costs in a given year. The total credit or charge is based on the prior year and is listed on customers’ bills from June through December each year.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The $4.46 is called a “customer charge,” and it doesn’t cover text alerts, which are part of a free service the utility offers to customers who want to know about power outages, said Entergy Louisiana spokeswoman Kacee Kirschvink. The customer charge, which is the lowest amount that a bill can have, helps pay for maintenance.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“There are two line items involving storm restoration on your bill. The storm restoration charge is to pay for bonds issued to finance the storm costs and reserves associated with Katrina/Rita, Gustav/Ike and Isaac,” Kirschvink wrote in an email.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“There’s also a storm restoration offset line item that represents guaranteed customer savings realized because of the type of bonds sold to finance the storm costs and reserves.”</span>

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<span style="font-weight: bold;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">Online:</span> <span class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">www.entergy-louisiana.com.</span>

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<span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">The I</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">nform</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">er answers questions from rea</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">ders each Sunday, Monday a</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">nd Wednesday. It is re</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">searched and written by</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">Andrew Perzo</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">, an</span> <span style="font-style: italic; font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">American Press</span> <span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">staff wri</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">ter. To ask a question, call</span> <span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">494-409</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">8 and leave voice mail, or ema</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">il informer@americanpress.com.</span>