Goal is to increase funding of essential aid for residents statewide

NEW ORLEANS - While financially vulnerable families in local communities struggle to meet basic needs such as heating and cooling costs - and even more so after the punch winter packed in the Bayou State this year - advocates from Entergy Louisiana, LLC, Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, L.L.C. and Entergy New Orleans, Inc. are meeting face-to-face with congressional leaders on Capitol Hill today to urge increased funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.

By participating in LIHEAP Action Day, company and community advocates aim to expand support to the life-saving program. LIHEAP helps customers in need afford to keep their homes comfortable during the extreme temperatures summer and winter can bring. Unfortunately, funding of this vital federal program has dropped by more than a third from $5.1 billion in 2009 to $3.4 billion today. This reduction in funding limits the level of assistance available for the more than 569,823 qualifying households around Louisiana.

During LIHEAP Action Day, Entergy representatives and community partners will be making the case to get LIHEAP funding restored. The goal is to secure LIHEAP funding of at least $4.7 billion for 2015. This could result in as much as $479 million in assistance for families in Entergy's four-state service territory.

"This increase could mean as much as $65 million in assistance, capable of helping thousands of qualifying households throughout Louisiana, including those in New Orleans," said Sheila Pounders, director of customer service.

Participating in LIHEAP Action Day is just one of the many ways Entergy is working to help its low-income customers. Read more about Entergy's low-income initiatives here.

Entergy's Louisiana utility companies provide electric service to more than one million customers through the operating companies Entergy Louisiana, LLC and Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, L.L.C. and natural gas service to nearly 93,000 customers in the greater Baton Rouge area through Entergy Gulf States Louisiana. With operations in southern, central and northeastern Louisiana, the companies are subsidiaries of Entergy Corporation.

Entergy New Orleans, Inc. is an electric and gas utility that serves Louisiana's Orleans Parish. The company provides electricity to more than 169,000 customers and natural gas to more than 100,000 customers. Entergy New Orleans is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation.

Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, including more than 10,000 megawatts of nuclear power, making it one of the nation's leading nuclear generators. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.8 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $11 billion and approximately 14,000 employees.

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