America’s WETLAND Foundation, Entergy to Release Study on Protecting Gulf Coast from Environmental Changes

First-of-its-kind study analyzes 800 zip codes in four energy-producing states

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Oct 15, 2010, 10:15 ET

NEW ORLEANS, Oct. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR) and the America’s WETLAND Foundation will release Wednesday, Oct. 20, a landmark study by McKinsey & Company with startling data that shows the need for billions in annual investments to sustain America’s Energy Coast of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.

The study, which will be presented by McKinsey during the America’s Energy Coast policy forum at the conclusion of the DELTAS2010: World Deltas Dialogue conference, has been eight months in the making and looks at assets across 77 coastal parishes and counties in the Gulf region. The report shows that without large-scale adaptation efforts, the region’s gross domestic product may be unable to keep up with the costs of protecting nationally critical assets.

“The study will include recommendations for cost-effective steps that can be taken now to provide greater resiliency in our threatened coastline,” said J. Wayne Leonard, chairman and chief executive officer of Entergy. “We are pleased to partner with America’s WETLAND Foundation to present this study to national, state and local government leaders to help in the planning process to protect our vanishing coastline; putting 2 million people directly at risk and billions in critical infrastructure.”

“The America’s WETLAND Foundation will take the study to communities throughout the energy coast in 2011 to help local officials and stakeholders plan for coastal resiliency in light of sea-level rise and ongoing land loss,” said R. King Milling, chair of the AWF.

“We are extremely grateful to Entergy for making possible this first-of-its-kind McKinsey study. This benchmark report is sure to help inform policy leaders in our region for years to come. When we discuss the importance of partnerships, bringing the detailed analysis of this study to the table is a remarkable contribution to this region and will be of tremendous benefit,” Milling said.

State legislative leaders from the four Gulf Coast energy producing states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama will meet at DELTAS2010 following release of the report to assess how the region can build resiliency following major disasters.

America’s WETLAND Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that has acted as a neutral arbiter for coastal interests since its inception in 2002, elevating issues facing the Gulf Coast, specifically those of coastal land loss, to regional and national attention. Through its America’s Energy Coast (AEC) initiative, the foundation has brought together a diverse group of major U.S.-based businesses and industries, national environmental organizations, renowned scientists and researchers, and coastal interests from across the four energy-producing states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Learn more at www.americaswetland.com.

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, and 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. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $10 billion and more than 15,000 employees.