Entergy 2014 Annual Report Download - page 4

while benefiting the environment. We expect license renewal to be a
multi-year process during which we will continue to operate Indian
Point safely, securely and reliably.
Workforce safety is critical to providing reliable power, and our long-
standing goal is to achieve an accident-free work environment. After
delivering a record year for employee safety in 2013, our safety
performance fell short in 2014. When we recognized the downward
performance trend during the year, we instituted hazard recognition
programs and reinforced the use of human performance tools. By year-
end, accident rates dropped significantly. We’ll continue these and other
efforts because workforce safety is a fundamental driver of our business
performance and always a top priority at Entergy.
We also power life by helping our local economies to grow, creating
thousands of new jobs in the process. Our utilities provide power at low
rates – about 20 percent below the national average across all classes – and
that’s an important consideration for companies selecting a new location
for their operations. Continuing to manage costs is a priority for us,
because that helps keep rates low. We completed our first year of operation
in MISO, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc., and the
MISO-driven customer savings are proving to be greater than we projected.
We also work proactively with state and local leaders to attract new
industries to the regions served by our utilities. We help identify potential
sites, assist in permitting and provide online tools to streamline the
development process. We do all this because economic growth builds our
communities and drives sales growth for our utilities, which in turn helps
us maintain rate stability, fund investments in our fleet and earn our
authorized returns on our investments. We have been very successful in
promoting economic development, and that success continued in 2014. We
achieved weather-adjusted retail sales growth of 2.3 percent, driven
primarily by industrial sales growth of 5 percent. We believe the diverse
industrial base in the Gulf South, including chemicals, primary metals,
wood products and petrochemicals, will deliver significant utility sales
growth through 2017.
Entergy delivered strong
performance in 2014 and
created value for our four
stakeholder groups.
Owners
We delivered total shareholder
return of 44.8 percent, which
ranked in the top quartile of our
peer group.
Customers
We provided reliable power at
rates about 20 percent below the
national average across all
classes, and we took steps to
modernize our fleet to keep rates
low.
We always power life with an eye on the future. We engage with our
regulators and stakeholders to ensure reliable and affordable power
and natural gas will be readily available for years to come. In our
utility business, we engage with regulators to secure rate mechanisms,
such as formula rate plans and specific recovery riders, which enable us
to recover costs faster and more efficiently. That, in turn, helps us
maintain investor confidence and access capital markets to fund
investments to modernize our fleet and enhance our reliability. In 2014,
the Mississippi Public Service Commission authorized a new formula
rate plan as well as solar projects and economic development incentives,
which meet customer and community needs while strengthening Entergy
Mississippi’s financial position. The Louisiana Public Service
Commission approved rider recovery for Entergy Gulf States Louisiana’s
accelerated gas pipe replacement program. Entergy Gulf States Louisiana
and Entergy Louisiana began the first year of their latest three-year
formula rate plan, which includes a mechanism to bring investments like
Ninemile 6 into rates upon completion. Entergy New Orleans promptly
began rider recovery for costs associated with Ninemile 6. Entergy Texas
completed a rate case and became the first utility in Texas to use a
distribution rider to improve its financial position and flexibility. And the
Arkansas Public Service Commission approved a modest increase in the
Entergy Arkansas rate case rehearing.
Employees
We invested in our organization
to engage and empower our
employees. We implemented
plans and programs to improve
employee safety, which fell short
of our goals in 2014.
Communities
We invested $16 million in local
education, poverty solutions and
environmental programs, focus
areas that align with and support
our business objectives.
In our wholesale generation business, we are engaged with regulators and
stakeholders to address long-term market design issues in the Northeast that
have the potential to produce greater price volatility, and in the extreme, a
less reliable system. These issues have implications for the continued
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