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Geaux Green

What is Geaux Green?

Geaux Green is the program name for the Entergy Louisiana green tariff (Rider GGO) approved by the Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) in September 2022. This is a voluntary program that allows eligible Entergy Louisiana customers to get value from a portfolio of new renewable resources located here in Louisiana as well as the renewable energy credits (RECs) produced by those facilities. The new resources are expected to be operational starting in 2024.  

When a customer enrolls in Geaux Green (and once the new resources are operational), the participating customer will see two additional items on their bill: (1) a subscription fee based on the amount of the customer’s subscription and the cost of the underlying resources and (2) a variable monthly bill credit based on the participant’s share of monthly output from the portfolio and the monthly value of that energy in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. (MISO)  market. When the value of energy in the MISO wholesale market is above a certain threshold, the customer will see a net reduction in their overall utility bill.

How do I sign up or receive more information?

Currently, the Geaux Green waitlist is for larger business customers only. Residential, small business, and low-income customers will be able to enroll at a later date, closer to when the new renewable resources are operational. Under the LPSC approved tariff, subscriptions to Geaux Green will apply to different groups of customers as follows:

Customer Class

Allocation (MW)

Low-income residential customers

10 MW

Residential and small general service customers (that do not qualify as low-income residential customers)

100 MW

Other non-residential customers

365 MW

What is the current estimate of Geaux Green subscription fees?

The current estimates of Rider GGO subscription fees are provided in the table below. Please keep in mind these prices are subject to a final update in the third quarter of 2023, as explained further below.  

Option

Current estimate of rider GGO price options

Fixed price (Option A) ($/kW-month)

$7.91

Volumetric price (Option B)($/MWh)

$39.288

Low-income residential price (Option C) ($/kW-month)

$6.25

Are the subscription fees listed above subject to change before the program starts?

Yes. While many of the costs and other inputs that determine the subscription fees have been finalized, some of those inputs may change. Under the terms of the LPSC-approved settlement in Docket No. U-36190, Entergy Louisiana must submit a final Rider GGO price update in the third quarter of 2023, prior to the operational date of the first resource in the GGO portfolio. Entergy Louisiana will share information about the final GGO price before customers are asked to make a binding commitment to participate in the program. Once the GGO price is final next year, customers in the queue will be asked to sign an amendment to their electric service agreement (ESA) which will serve as the initial, binding, one-year commitment to participate in Geaux Green.    

How will I be billed?

Once your subscription starts: each month, the subscription fees and bill credits for your subscription to the Geaux Green program will be included in your monthly bill from Entergy Louisiana.

If I sign up for Geaux Green, when will I start seeing a change in my utility bill?

Reservations for the program will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis. To the extent your Geaux Green reservation request is processed when there is still available capacity in the program, your subscription will not start until the new renewable resources are operational starting in 2024. In addition, similar to Entergy Louisiana’s fuel adjustment charge, application of Geaux Green subscription fees and bill credits on participants’ utility bills will be on a two-month lag. For example, a customer whose subscription starts in March 2024 will start seeing the effects of their participation in the program on their utility bill in May 2024. This delay is needed to receive and process the actual output of the renewable facilities each month.

Why is there a 50 MW limit on the size of individual subscriptions of large commercial and industrial ELL customers to Geaux Green?

Entergy Louisiana has designed an offering that is open to all customers classes and has an obligation to provide fair, non-discriminatory service to its customers.  To provide multiple customers an opportunity to enroll in the offering, an initial 50 MW cap (assessed at the parent company level) will be imposed on the initial Geaux Green program.   

Why is the Geaux Green portfolio entirely sourced from solar resources?  Why are wind or other renewable technologies not part of the portfolio?

ELL’s 2019 Final IRP and Draft 2023 IRP conclude that solar technology is more economic in the near-term, when compared to other renewable resources. The addition of solar resources to ELL’s portfolio will support the objectives of serving ELL’s customers reliably, at the lowest reasonable cost, while considering risk.  ELL’s 2022 RFP is also seeking proposals for wind resources, in addition to solar. The Company will continue to monitor the cost and performance of other renewable technologies and seek opportunities for deployment within ELL's service territory. Should opportunities for cost-effective deployments arise, ELL will consider adding such renewable resource types to the overall Geaux Green portfolio in the future.

The initial Geaux Green portfolio is expected to include 475 MWAC of renewable resources.  Where will those resources be located?

All of the resources will be located within the state of Louisiana, and the majority will be located within southeastern Louisiana, as shown on the map below.   

If the minimum customer commitment period is one year, will that require re-enrollment on an annual basis?

No. After a customer has participated in GGO for at least one year, the agreement shall automatically be extended on June 1 of each year for successive periods of one year each until terminated by written notice given by one party to the other not more than six months nor less than two months prior to the expiration of the original term or any anniversary thereof. 

Will the subscription fee change annually? 

No. The subscription fees are determined prior to enrollment based upon the cost of the renewable resources in the initial Geaux Green portfolio. Once the subscription fees are finalized in the third quarter of 2023, they are not expected to change annually.  However, under the terms of the LPSC-approved settlement in Docket No. U-36190, once the Geaux Green subscription fees are finalized in 2023, they will remain in place until modified by a future Commission order. The Commission will only revisit the subscription fee prices under a few specific scenarios identified in the settlement (for example, in the event that more renewable resources are added to the Geaux Green portfolio). In the event that the LPSC approves a change to the Geaux Green subscription fees in the future, participating customers will be provided advance notice before their next opportunity to renew their participation in the program.

When a customer enrolls in Geaux Green, will their subscription be tied to a specific resource in the Geaux Green portfolio, such that their subscription will only come from that resource? 

No, customers will enroll in a share of the entire Geaux Green portfolio.  A portfolio of resources provides a number of advantages to relying upon a single renewable resource. Solar technology is intermittent in nature.  Sourcing Geaux Green from a portfolio of different renewable resources in different areas provides participants locational diversity to mitigate the effect of weather in one location. 

Will I own the facilities in the Geaux Green portfolio?

No. The solar projects in Louisiana that comprise the Geaux Green portfolio will be owned by third parties or Entergy Louisiana.

How will the RECs associated with my subscription be handled?

By enrolling in Geaux Green, you have the right to claim the environmental benefit of the RECs associated with your subscription. For businesses, the RECs can help reduce your company’s scope 2 emissions. Entergy Louisiana will retire RECs associated with your subscription on your behalf. 

Who is eligible to participate in Geaux Green?

To be eligible, a customer must take metered service and have an account in good standing with Entergy Louisiana. This program is not offered to unmetered or lighting service.

Is it possible for the cost of my Entergy Louisiana bill to decrease because of my participation?

Yes. As noted above, the monthly bill credit will offset the subscription fees for the program.  If the value of energy produced by your subscription exceeds a certain threshold, you will see a net reduction in your monthly utility bill.  For the Fixed Price Option, the bill effects are seasonal and customers will see more benefits in the summer months of the year, when solar produces more energy and power prices tend to be higher.  For the Volumetric Price Option, participants will see a net reduction in their bill whenever the monthly MISO LMP prices exceed the Volumetric Price.   

How can a potential subscriber confirm that their commitment will be tied to new renewable projects and/or provide additionality?

The initial Geaux Green tariff and any future expansions of Geaux Green will only be supplied by new renewable projects that have not yet been constructed.  

Is a customer’s selection of the Fixed Price option or Volumetric Price option within Rider GGO tied to a specific term?  Can a customer switch their selected option at any time, periodically, or only at the start of a term?  

The customer’s selection of the Fixed Price Option versus Volumetric Price Option is meant to be a one-time election prior to enrollment.  

What is Entergy’s expected solar net capacity factor in Louisiana?

For utility-scale solar projects in Louisiana that utilize single-axis tracking, Entergy Louisiana generally expects a capacity factor between 27 – 30%. Please keep in mind that output from solar facilities degrades over time.   

Will participation in Geaux Green have any impact on demand charges, the fuel adjustment, or other charges as laid out in the existing billing / tariffs, or is Geaux Green a separate item on the bill in addition to current base rate changes and/or applicable riders? 

Participation in Geaux Green will not affect your account’s demand or electricity usage in a given month, and it would be separate from the base rate schedule/other riders that currently apply to your account.

In the event any of the solar facilities that are part of the Geaux Green portfolio are down, is a subscriber to the Fixed Price option still obligated to pay the monthly subscription fee? Would it be prorated if one of the facilities in the GGO portfolio is down?

Yes, under the Fixed Price option, a customer is still obligated to pay the monthly subscription fee for the duration of their enrollment; it would not be prorated.  A customer interested in reducing the capacity factor risk should consider the Volumetric Price option.

Can a company enroll in Geaux Green yet if the company is not yet an ELL customer?

No. Geaux Green is only open to customers of Entergy Louisiana.

Does a customer get the same number of renewable energy credits (RECs) under Option A and Option B?

Yes. The same Geaux Green subscription size for Option A and Option B would produce the same number of renewable energy credits (RECs) in the same timeframe.