Entergy Mississippi rates will drop from June through September, the company announced in a news release.

The typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours per month will pay $9.71 less, or less than $98.

“With the economic hit Mississippians have taken from the COVID-19 fall-out, this is welcome news for our customers,” said Haley Fisackerly, Entergy Mississippi president and CEO. “We know residential energy use is up due to many people being home when they ordinarily wouldn’t be, so this reduction should help offset that.”

Electric rates rise and fall year-to-year based on many factors.

In this case, it is due to an over-recovery of fuel costs. Like all utilities, Entergy estimates its fuel costs each year. If the company collects more than it spends for fuel costs, it refunds the money back to customers through lower rates.

If the company under-collects fuel costs, rates go up to cover the difference. 

Other reasons for Entergy Mississippi’s current low rates include: low natural gas prices; the company’s purchase of more efficient, low-cost natural gas power plants; upgrading Grand Gulf Nuclear Station in recent years to get 13 percent more low-cost nuclear power from the same plant; joining MISO, which gives the company access to power from many sources around the country and creates a more competitive market, and streamlining the company to make our operations more cost efficient.

Bills are a combination of rates and usage. To further lower bills, customers can use less electricity by being more energy-efficient. For tips on how to lower usage, visit Entergy’s Save Me Money Web page. For help with bill payment or other needs related to COVID-19, visit Entergy’s customer resource page .

To help small businesses, Entergy Mississippi has created a hub of resources to connect owners to information, tools and opportunities that could help them during the COVID-19 pandemic.

These resources are at entergy.com/covid-19/mssmbiz/.