Entergy Corporation : Entergy New Orleans Customers to Benefit from Proposed Unit at Local Power Plant

Company will purchase 20 percent of power output from proposed Ninemile 6 plant

New Orleans, La. - With an eye towards planning for the future energy needs of a growing New Orleans, Entergy New Orleans, Inc. today received permission from the New Orleans City Council Utility Committee to purchase 20 percent of the electricity produced by a proposed generating unit at the Ninemile Point power plant.

The issue will now go to the consent agenda to be voted on at the February 2nd City Council meeting.

The Louisiana Public Service Commission is reviewing plans for the natural gas-fired unit, which would be known as Ninemile 6 and owned by Entergy Louisiana, LLC. If approved by the LPSC, construction would begin later this year with an expected operation date set for mid-2015.

"We view this purchase agreement as a solid investment for our customers," said Charles Rice, president and chief executive officer of Entergy New Orleans, Inc. "The city of New Orleans continues to grow, and this addition to our generation mix will help us continue to provide safe, reliable power at the lowest reasonable cost to our customers for years to come."

As one of the most efficient gas-fired units in the Entergy fleet, Ninemile 6 could produce fuel savings for Entergy customers in Louisiana ranging from $26 million to $53 million per year. The new unit would also improve reliability in south Louisiana by providing efficient generation near the large population of the New Orleans metropolitan area.

"Securing the rights to this clean, affordable, and local electricity is an important step for New Orleans," said Cynthia Hedge-Morrell, chair of the New Orleans City Council utility committee. "It will reduce our dependence on the aging Michoud plant, allowing us to be more environmentally friendly as well as providing improved reliability."

The state-of-the-art combined-cycle gas turbine unit will use modern pollution controls and CCGT technology to produce highly efficient, clean and reliable power, and is expected to cost approximately $721 million to construct. The proposed unit would be located at the site of the existing Ninemile Point power plant near Westwego, La. Locating the unit on the site of an existing power plant and near such infrastructure as transmission lines is expected to help reduce construction costs.

Entergy New Orleans, Inc. is an electric and gas utility serving Orleans Parish and is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation. The company provides electricity to more than 160,000 customers and natural gas to more than 100,000 customers in Orleans Parish.

In this news release, and from time to time, Entergy New Orleans makes certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Except to the extent required by the federal securities laws, Entergy New Orleans undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties. There are factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, including (a) those factors discussed in: (i) Entergy Corporation's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010; (ii) Entergy Corporation's Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2011, June 30, 2011 and September 30, 2011; and (iii) Entergy Corporation's other reports and filings made under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; (b) uncertainties associated with rate proceedings, formula rate plans and other cost recovery mechanisms; (c) uncertainties associated with efforts to remediate the effects of major storms and recover related restoration costs; (d) nuclear plant relicensing, operating and regulatory risks, including any changes resulting from the nuclear crisis in Japan following its catastrophic earthquake and tsunami; (e) legislative and regulatory actions and risks and uncertainties associated with claims or litigation by or against Entergy Corporation and its subsidiaries; (f) conditions in commodity and capital markets during the periods covered by the forward-looking statements, in addition to other factors described elsewhere in this release and subsequent securities filings, and (g) risks inherent in the proposed divestiture and subsequent merger of Entergy Corporation's electric transmission business into a subsidiary of ITC Holdings Corp. Entergy Corporation's cannot provide any assurances that the divestiture and merger transaction will be completed and cannot give any assurance as to the terms on which such transaction will be consummated. The divestiture and merger transaction is subject to certain conditions precedent, including regulatory approvals and approval by ITC Holdings Corp. shareholders.