Entergy needs to replace 2 generators

• By MARK BALLARD
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Jun 28, 2008 - Page: 1A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Entergy Louisiana needs to replace two steam generators at its Waterford III nuclear power plant, an operation that will cost customers $511 million, according to a filing the state’s largest electricity provider made with the state Public Service Commission.

The PSC, the state’s utilities regulatory agency, is being asked to decide by November if Entergy can proceed with what will be its third-largest project in corporate history. The nuclear reactor is about 50 miles south of Baton Rouge in St. Charles Parish.

Entergy Louisiana residential customers could see an increase of about $5 to their monthly bills, said T. Michael Twomey, Entergy’s vice president of regulatory affairs.

In a letter faxed to the PSC Thursday night, Twomey said the steam generator is experiencing “degradation” at a rate far faster than anticipated.

“Degradation is a technical term. It’s essentially wear and tear,” Twomey said Friday.

The nickel metal, called Alloy 600, used to build the steam generators was supposed to last until 2024 but will not, Twomey said. The steam generators have been in operation since 1985.

Twomey said the project that would replace the nuclear plant’s two steam generators and other mechanisms would prolong the life of the nuclear power plant, which makes the lowest costing electricity in the Entergy Louisiana system. Nuclear fuel is far less expensive than coal and natural gas.

If approved by the PSC, an increase would be added to the bills of Entergy Louisiana LLC customers, the total amount varying, dependent on the amount of electricity bought each month.

For instance, a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours per month would see a $5 increase in a bill that in May was $109.83, according to Entergy filings with the PSC. The typical Entergy Louisiana residential customers uses about 1,300 kilowatt hours.

Customers of Entergy Gulf States LLC, which serves much of East Baton Rouge Parish, will not have to pay the additional fee. Entergy Gulf States serves about 350,000 customers in 18 parishes roughly along Interstate 10 from Baton Rouge to Texas.

Entergy Louisiana serves 650,000 customers in 46 parishes that cover much of Louisiana from the coast to the Arkansas border.

Near Baton Rouge, Entergy Louisiana has customers in Ascension, East Feliciana, Iberville and Livingston parishes.

PSC Commissioner Jimmy Field of Baton Rouge said the replacements Entergy contemplates have been taking place all around the country as the Alloy 600 mechanisms widely used 25 years ago have worn much faster than anticipated.