Entergy Arkansas gives $2.5 million in energy efficiency incentives

Entergy Arkansas, a utility of New Orleans-based Entergy Corp., provided $2.5 million in energy efficiency incentives to 29 school districts and eight colleges and universities in Arkansas this year, according to the company. The utility’s CitySmart Program allowed the schools and universities to save 20.5 million kilowatt hours — which is enough electricity to power 1,640 homes for a year.

CitySmart is one of 11 Entergy Solutions Programs offering energy efficiency upgrades and incentives to commercial and residential customers, and it paid about $1.6 million in incentives in 2017 and nearly $2.7 million in 2016. The program helps schools improve energy efficiency, reduce utility bills and increases building comfort with climate and lighting upgrades. It allows schools to identify savings that are specific to their buildings and to earn incentives by completing energy-efficiency projects.

“When schools are struggling with inefficient lighting or inadequate heating and cooling systems, CitySmart incentives often can make the difference in whether an upgrade is possible,” said Gabe Munoz, manager of Energy Efficiency for Entergy Arkansas. “We offer incentives for implementing and installing a wide range of measures that can help lower the cost of electricity for these customers.”

Entergy Arkansas provides electricity to about 700,000 customers in 63 counties. Parent company Entergy Corp. owns power plants with 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity and almost 9,000 megawatts of nuclear power. Entergy has more than 2.9 million customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. It employs more than 13,000 people and has annual revenue of about $11 billion.