By Chris O’Malley

Entergy’s Arkansas and Mississippi operating companies will pay $32.6 million to their sister companies under a bandwidth recalculation report approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday (ER07-956).

The commission found in a 2005 order that the Entergy system was no longer in rough production cost equalization. It ordered an annual “bandwidth” true-up ensuring that no operating company would book production costs that are more than 11% above or below the system average production costs. (See FERC Bundles Entergy ‘Bandwidth’ Disputes for Hearing.)

Regulators in each state where the company operates have regularly challenged the annual bandwidth filings.

The updated report approved last week was based on 2006 test data and reflected adjustments on issues such as accounting for interim storm damage costs stemming from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

It will result in additional payments of $26.5 million by Entergy Arkansas and $6.1 million by Entergy Mississippi. The recipients are Entergy’s Gulf States Louisiana ($19 million), Louisiana ($2.7 million) and Texas ($10.9 million) operating companies.

The company said it will provide updated bandwidth payment/receipt amounts to wholesale customers on their next monthly bill.

Commissioner Colette Honorable, former chairman of the Arkansas Public Service Commission, did not participate in the ruling.

Gulf States Split

The case was complicated by Entergy Gulf States’ 2007 split into Entergy Texas and Entergy Gulf States Louisiana.

Texas industrial energy consumers filed a protest contending that because Entergy Gulf States was in operation in 2006, the allocation of payments due to the company should be addressed by state regulators in Texas and Louisiana.

The company balked, noting that because the Texas and Louisiana commissions adopted different allocation methods, Texas retail customers were credited $19 million more in 2007 bandwidth payments than were received.

FERC sided with the company, noting that Entergy Gulf States “no longer exists.”

FERC said that while Entergy Gulf States Louisiana and Entergy Texas did not exist in 2007, “it is only logical to place them into Entergy Gulf States’ position in order to ensure rough production equalization.”

OATT Revisions ‘Moot’

FERC also ruled last week in the matter of Entergy’s 2011 proposed revisions to its Open Access Transmission Tariff to comply with Orders 729 and 676-E. Because Entergy’s OATT was cancelled with its 2013 integration into MISO, Entergy’s compliance filing “is now moot,” FERC said (ER10-3357).