Electricity sold by Entergy to Mississippians from a contract in Evangeline Parish, La., composed larger percentages of Entergy Mississippi’s total power load for 2005 and 2006 than the utility originally revealed, Attorney General Jim Hood said.

Hood’s office cited documents filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in his latest counter-punch in legal wrangling over Entergy’s rates in Mississippi. Entergy has said Hood’s claims are without merit and that its books have been open to state and federal regulators who have approved every action.

A pending lawsuit in Hinds County filed by Hood charges Entergy with making false statements to the Public Service Commission concerning its rate calculations. Hood alleges the company has padded its invoices since 1974 and sold its customers in Mississippi the highest-priced power available in its four-state system.

Separately, the PSC held off on approving an audit by its Public Utilities Staff showing how much energy the utility purchased from October 2007 to September 2008.

It showed Entergy Mississippi purchased $472.6 million in energy and Mississippi Power purchased $139.8 million during the period. The companies spent $414 million and $87.3 million, respectively, the previous year.

It will be turned over to the Legislature, in accord with state law, where additional oversight of utilities’ purchases will be sought.

The utility’s claims of just a 1 percent share of the total load came after Hood questioned the validity of Entergy’s argument that energy sold using natural gas from a contract in the central Louisiana parish was too small to affect Mississippi ratepayers. The Louisiana contract was the subject of a court case and a $72 million refund to ratepayers that resulted.

Entergy has said it could take several months to determine if customers were overcharged as a result of any percentage of energy stemming from the Evangeline contract.

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Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com.