Entergy 2003 Annual Report Download - page 13

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 13 of the 2003 Entergy annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 92

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92

ENTERGY CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES 2003
Demonstrated Commitment to Reliability.
Over the past five years, Entergy has invested $1.5 billion above depreciation to improve the reliability of
our electric distribution system. This investment has significantly improved the reliability of the electric
service we provide our utility customers, in terms of both the average frequency and the average duration
of outages per customer per year. We’ve also significantly improved the reliability of our transmission
system, as measured by the transmission service index.
Utility –
Performing Daily for Customers
ntergy’s utility business remains focused on the customer, and on delivering reliable,
low-cost energy service every day. In 2003, we made progress in securing efficient,
low-cost generating resources and continued to improve system reliability.
Dependable, Economical Power Supply
Entergy has developed innovative approaches to save money for customers in the way we
acquire generation to meet their needs.
In 2003, we held down the cost of power for our customers, in spite of high prices for the
natural gas we use for 26 percent of our electric generation. We also acquired over 1,600 MW of
long-term and short-term power resources at competitive rates, through a Generation Supply
Plan we crafted with regulators.
Costs associated with the Supply Plan – new generation resources and power purchase
agreements acquired to meet customer needs – are offset by fuel savings, as we displace more
expensive purchased power and generation from less efficient sources.
Most notably, we reached agreement in January 2004 to acquire a natural gas-fired power
plant in Perryville, Louisiana, from Cleco Corporation. The acquisition will add 718 MW of
highly efficient generation to serve our Louisiana customers. The purchase of the plant is
expected to be completed by late 2004, contingent on necessary legal and regulatory approvals,
including full cost recovery for Entergy.
The Supply Plan was designed to meet the need for additional power supplies of 2,000 MW to
4,800 MW between 2003 and 2012 to serve our utility customers. Our objective is to provide
customers the benefits available from a competitive wholesale power market, while maintaining
reliability and limiting exposure to fuel price and market risks.
As a part of this plan, we carefully developed a process to issue Requests for Proposals for
generation supplies and to evaluate bids submitted through this process. To ensure the
objectivity and impartiality of the RFP process, we retained an independent monitor. By year-
end 2003, we completed four rounds of RFPs and evaluated proposals for over 45,000 MW of
power resources.
E
98 99 00 01 02 03
Outage Frequency
(average number
per customer
per year)
98 99 00 01 02 03
Outage Duration
(average minutes
per customer
per year)
98 99 00 01 02 03
Transmission
Service Index
(megawatt-hours
not served)
944
1,472
965
2,719
2,127
278 229
172 162 164
2.58 2.24 2.13 1.99 1.75 144 1,184
3.54
11