Louisiana-based Entergy honored by Dow Jones for sustainability

New Orleans CityBusiness, Sep 25, 2008

Entergy Corp. today said it has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and Dow Jones Sustainability North American Index for 2008-09.

For the third year in a row, Entergy was the only U.S. utility selected to the world index.

The Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes are based on an annual review of corporate economic, environmental and social performance. Corporate governance, risk management, climate change mitigation, supply chain standards and labor practices are considered in the review.

"We believe DJSI sets the standards that we must meet or exceed every day in everything we do," said J. Wayne Leonard, Entergy's chairman and CEO.

The World Index involves the top 10 percent of the biggest 2,500 companies worldwide based on long-term economic, environmental and social criteria. The North American Index selects the top 20 percent in each industry sector from a pool of the 600 largest.

For 2008, Entergy is part of a group of 51 U.S. companies honored by the The World Index and is one of only 10 U.S. utilities selected by the North American Index.

This year, Entergy ranked best in class for environmental policy/ management system and for talent attraction and retention. Entergy also scored in the top percentile for corporate governance and climate strategy.

"Climate change is an issue that is extremely important to us, and we've made a concerted effort to articulate a clear vision for a sustainable future," Leonard said. "But the DJSI recognizes that at Entergy we do more than 'talk' about it. We have continued to voluntarily reduce our already low emission level since 2001 when we made our first greenhouse gas commitment."

Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity. It is the second-largest nuclear generator in the United States. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.7 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. The company has annual revenues of more than $11 billion and approximately 14,300 employees.