Toledo Bend
Bi-State
Alliance

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Published on 8/7/98 in the Baton Rouge Advocate
Utilities, businesses clash over Toledo Bend By CARL REDMAN, Capitol news bureau Baton Rouge resident Randy Ziegler has run Wildwood Resort on Toledo Bend for 22 years, but right now he can launch only small boats there. Lake levels have dropped too much for him to handle the larger bass boats. And many other boat launches around the western Louisiana lake are high and dry, he said. Ziegler and others who live or make a living around the lake are upset because two utilities -- Entergy-Gulf States Utilities and Central Louisiana Electric Co. -- are drawing down the lake to run two 40-megawatt hydroelectric generators on the Toledo Bend dam. The problem, Public Service Commission Executive Director Lawrence St. Blanc said, is the utilities would have to buy more expensive power from other sources -- if it was available at all -- if they stopped drawing down the lake to run the generators. And that could mean substantially higher bills for industries that consume large blocks of power, St. Blanc said. The dispute has attracted the attention of an array of politicians, including Gov. Mike Foster. Representatives of various interests met Wednesday in Alexandria but did not resolve the situation. Another meeting is slated today in Shreveport. Terry Ryder, deputy chief of staff for Gov. Mike Foster, said the governor’s office is trying to keep the various interests meeting together in search of a solution. Under their contract with the Sabine River Authority, Entergy and CLECO are entitled to generate electricity from May to September to help meet high summer demand, said Barton Rumsey, project engineer at the Sabine River Authority of Louisiana. Rumsey said the utilities pay $21 per megawatt-hour for the Toledo Bend power and they would likely have to pay several hundred dollars if they bought the power on the open market. And, because of high demand around the nation, the utilities might not be able to purchase replacement power at all, St. Blanc said. Ziegler, who is president of the Toledo Bend Lake Marina Association, said statistics he’s seen from the PSC indicate that Entergy and CLECO get a very small amount of their total power from Toledo Bend. Ziegler said the impact on the average residential consumer of curtailing that production would be negligible. However, St. Blanc said that could mean substantially higher bills for industrial users that consume large blocks of power. PSC member Dale Sittig said he’s stuck between watching out for the interests of utility customers and being sensitive to the economic development and tourism needs of the Toledo Bend area. Sittig said Toledo Bend hosts major fishing tournaments throughout the year. He said some organizers are getting nervous about being able to launch bass boats for some coming tournaments. Entergy spokeswoman Mary Broussard said utility company officials are sympathetic to homeowners around Toledo Bend. "But, the hot weather and record high demands have prompted the need for this power," Broussard said. "When possible and when conditions allow us, we are reducing generation on a daily basis." Rumsey said that, between evaporation and water being drawn off to power the generators, Toledo Bend lake is dropping about a tenth of a foot a day. Without some pretty heavy rainfall in the lake basin, that means the lake will drop another foot over the next two weeks, Rumsey said.
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For complete information about Toledo Bend Reservoir and the surrounding areas of Louisiana and Texas, always go to toledo-bend.com