Costs of Winter Weather Response Still Undetermined
By: Marci Manley, KARK 4 News
Updated: January 2, 2013
With most power lines back up in the air and roadways clear from the winter weather, talk is now turning to just how much it will cost for those repairs and clean up.
For both roadway and power outage repairs, it could take weeks if not months to get a final total and what that will mean for Entergy ratepayers and future Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department projects.
After bringing in roughly 5,000 additional workers to help out with the around the clock response, Entergy Arkansas is now finshing the last clean up and repair projects.
The company sets aside $15 million for all storm responses each year. Whatever goes over that will be recovered in rates, as determined alongside the state's Public Service Commission.
"We work side by side to determine how can we recover the costs but do so with minimal impact to customers and that is a huge driving factor," said Entergy Arkansas spokesperson Julie Munsell.
Every storm is different in terms of damage and cost assessments, Munsell said.
Last week, CEO Hugh McDonald said the the significance of this year's winter storm is comparable to that of a major ice storm in 2000.
The total cost of that storm was $191 million.
The most recent rate increase for a storm response, however, came in 2009 from a storm that cost approximately $126 million, Munsell said.
That resulted in a monthly rate increase of 92 cents per customer over a 10 year period.
The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department spends $5 to $6 million a year, on average, on winter weather responses across the state. That money comes out of the general maintenance fund, according to spokesperson Randy Ort.
Ort said that if the costs exceeded that expected amount, the department would reconsider optional projects like ditch clearing, but it will continue to provide essential maintenance.
He wanted to be clear that weather response was an essential maintenance portion of the department's function.
