Entergy 2006 Annual Report Download - page 5

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3
cultural, socio-economic or ethnic
diversity when it comes to making the
everyday decisions that affect one of the
most diverse customer bases in the
country? What is the increased value of
serving communities that know the
company is making a difference in the
lives of the people who can least afford our
product; not because we have to but
because it’s simply the right thing to do?
What is the value to the bottom line of
adhering to the principles of sustainable
growth whether the times are good or not?
Whether it’s expedient or not? Whether it
affects this generation or the next?
How do you explain to investors the
seeming paradox that “having it all”
means giving back and taking no more
than absolutely essential from other
stakeholders as you go?
The fact is, I’ve never felt overly
compelled to woo those looking to get rich
overnight. Maybe because I’ve never
figured how to do that. The principles of
sustainable growth have worked for
Entergy even though I couldn’t predict
how or how much eight years ago when
I was given the opportunity to become
CEO, nor can I even explain today how it
contributed to the achievement of the
highest total shareholder return in the
industry over these eight years. Entergy’s
average annual TSR was almost three
times the industry average. And we started
with no financial headroom or margin for
error and have had our share of adversity
along the way, like the unprecedented
120,000 square miles of damage from
hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.
Today, we continue to assert that the
principles of sustainable growth are the
only way to run the business. We continue
to set aspirations to not only be a leader
in financial, operational and societal
performance, but to separate Entergy from
the rest. We have demonstrated it is
possible to deliver consistently superior
shareholder returns (multiples of
the industry average), create a safe and
inclusive workplace, preserve our
environment and contribute to a
productive society. Using our dynamic
point-of-view driven business model,
our aspirations will be tomorrow’s
benchmark for what “having it all”
means in business.
Sustainability in Good Times and Bad
The 2005 hurricanes put everything we
believe and have practiced to the test.
2006 could easily have been consumed
with the near-term recovery of storm-
related costs but we maintained our
long-term commitment to the principles
of sustainability. For example, even as we
pushed diligently for storm restoration
cost recovery at local, state and federal
levels in 2006:
■We continued to set new standards in
emergency restoration not only in our
own service area, but in assisting others.
We were honored to receive Edison
Electric Institute’s Emergency Assistance
Award. Entergy has received either EEI’s
Emergency Assistance Award or
Emergency Response Award for nine
consecutive years.
■As the rebuilding process began, we
worked to educate and influence
communities to adopt environmentally
smart building standards in order to
lower future utility bills for our customers
and reduce environmental emissions.
■We redoubled our efforts in support of
wetland restoration to reduce flooding
risks from future storms in New
Orleans and other communities along
the Gulf Coast.
■We successfully advocated for
securitization legislation to preserve
affordable rates for our customers and
worked to establish storm reserves to
lower future risks for both our
customers and our owners.
■We continued to issue Requests
for Proposals for long-term and
limited/intermediate-term resources
under our utility Resource Supply
Plan in order to drive down prices
for our customers and to maintain
superior reliability.
■We reached an agreement to purchase the
798-megawatt Palisades Nuclear Plant,
continuing the impressive profitable
growth in our nuclear business.
■We operated our nuclear plants more
reliably than ever, setting new records
for total output at both our regulated
and Northeast plants.
“The principles of sustainable growth have worked for
Entergy … contributed to the achievement of the highest total
shareholder return in the industry over these eight years.”
ENTERGY CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES 2
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