By Amanda Durish Cook

FERC last week granted Entergy permission to use a one-time load adjustment in the transfer of transmission facilities in New Orleans’ 15th Ward, Algiers, from Entergy Louisiana to Entergy New Orleans.

The order (ER15-1922) grants a limited waiver to include an estimate for the Algiers load in the historical Entergy New Orleans calculation and subsequent removal from the Entergy Louisiana calculation to avoid discrepancies. Without the waiver, the transfer would require a responsibility ratio calculation and a phase-in period that would occur over a year, the company said. Responsibility ratios, used to allocate costs in the Entergy intra-system bill, are calculated as a rolling 12-month average.

Entergy said the Algiers asset transfer required immediate, not gradual, cost allocation and asked for a “one-time reset of the Entergy New Orleans and Entergy Louisiana responsibility ratios to complete the Algiers asset transfer.”

Entergy sought the asset transfer in December 2014 because Entergy Louisiana had been subject to retail jurisdiction of the New Orleans City Council in addition to the Louisiana Public Service Commission. Entergy Louisiana serviced Algiers as well as customers outside the city. Entergy New Orleans delivered electricity to all of the city except Algiers.

In April 2015, FERC approved the transfer, and in September, approximately 8.3 miles of 115-kV and 230-kV transmission lines and two transmission substations were passed to Entergy New Orleans, ending Entergy Louisiana’s dual jurisdictions. As a result, 1.84% of the capacity from Entergy Louisiana’s existing generation portfolio moved to Entergy New Orleans.

The commission determined that the historical load estimate Entergy developed was thorough, relying on “load research sample interval data, sample and total class billing kilowatt-hours, sample strata weighting factors and monthly Entergy system peak demand times.”