RESERVE — As heat index values continue to hover between 108 and 115 degrees across the South, keeping homes cool becomes a priority.

And as air conditioners work harder, electricity use increases, which can lead to higher-than-normal utility bills.

“With the National Weather Service issuing heat warnings and advisories each day, we know that customers need to keep cool,” Sheila Butler, customer service manager for Entergy Louisiana, LLC, said. “But even with air conditioners cranked up to battle the heat, customers can stay calm, cool and collected by taking control of their electric bills and signing up for level billing.”

According to the National Climatic Data Center, June 2010 was the warmest on record across the globe. What’s more, June 2010 was the fourth consecutive warmest month on record – following March, April and May, which also were the warmest. And it isn’t over. August forecasts show even higher temperatures on the way.

“We’re doing everything we can to keep customers’ electricity bills as low as possible,” Butler said. “They can help by reducing their electricity use and signing up for level billing to keep their bills predictable and manageable every month of the year, regardless of the weather.”

For a simple way to reduce electricity use, Butler added, “We recommend that customers set their thermostats to 78 degrees or the highest comfortable temperature to cut down on energy costs. Each degree cooler than 78 will increase their bills by as much as 3 percent.”

Customers using level billing pay about the same amount for electricity every month, summer or winter. Bills are averaged over a 12-month period based on usage.

Winter bills may become a little higher, but the typical high bills of summer are cut to more manageable amounts during peak energy-use months – as much as 40 percent for some customers.

To find out how much their bills will be reduced depending their electricity usage, customers should call Entergy to find out what their level billing amount would be.

“When customers know about what they can expect to pay for services or products, they can better plan their budgets,” Butler said. “Level billing helps customers know what to plan for and can give them peace of mind – particularly during this tough economy. What’s more, electricity usage is still shown on monthly bills so they will be able to monitor it.”

For more information on level billing or other bill-management programs, customers may visit entergy-louisiana.com and sign for my My Account Online. They may also call 1-800-ENTERGY (368-3749) for more information.