Craighead County, AR – JonesboroRightNow.com – Entergy Arkansas filed Friday with the Arkansas Public Service Commission to establish new base rates. The new rates would be effective January 2027.

While Craighead County is primarily served by City Water and Lights (CWL), and the county’s rural farmland and unincorporated areas are served by Craighead Electric Cooperative, some of the smaller towns in the region are served by Entergy.

Entergy operates within Bono, Lake City, Black Oak, Monette, Bay, Caraway, and Cash in Craighead County.

A regulatory rate review is a comprehensive review of a utility’s base rates presented to the Arkansas Public Service Commission with detailed evidence about its costs, investments, and revenue needs.

According to the company, Entergy Arkansas has been operating under a formula rate plan since 2016. A formula rate plan allows for annual adjustments that help shield customers from rate volatility and make way for the company to keep this rate review impact low despite rising costs.

According to a press release from Entergy, “Residential customers are expected to see minimal change to their monthly bills as the company introduces new rate structures to reduce costs, increase efficiency, and offer innovative bill solutions to keep power affordable for all customers.”

The release added that Entergy was seeking a customization of rates rather than a simple increase. The options being pursued by the energy company include:

• An optional time-of-use rate that provides residential customers the opportunity to lower bills by shifting some energy use to lower-cost hours.
• Low-income rates that provide a 50% discount on the customer charge for more than 113,000 households that qualify for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
• A rate schedule tailored specifically for agricultural customers, recognizing the unique and seasonal energy needs of Arkansas’s farming community.

The company indicated that the impact on customer bills for the rate change will vary based on the type of customer, but the overall retail rate increase would be less than 2% for all rate classes combined.

The release said, “A household using 1,000 kW of power would see a less than 1% increase, about $1.16 on their monthly bill. For commercial and industrial customers, actual bill impacts would depend on usage characteristics such as size and load factor.”

Entergy Arkansas also plans to file a separate Generating Arkansas Jobs Act Rider annual update next month to support long-term investments tied to statewide economic and job growth. The combined total rate change between the rider and the rate review is expected to be at or below prior formula rate plan rate changes, and also maintain Entergy Arkansas’s competitive position with rates well below the national average.

“Thanks to the foresight of Arkansas legislators and the Arkansas Public Service Commission in approving the formula rate plan structure, this filing represents a reset of base rates instead of a significant rate increase,” said Laura Landreaux, Entergy Arkansas president and CEO. “It’s designed to maintain affordability, support continued economic development, and allow us to make steady investments in our grid while delivering safe, reliable power with minimal impact for the majority of our customers.”

The news release continued that Entergy hopes that anticipated revenue from new large customers could further lower rates in the coming years. “Large-scale economic development projects such as these help spread the cost of operating and maintaining the grid over a wider customer base, driving down electricity prices for all customers,” said the release.