Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley announced Wednesday that customers of Entergy Mississippi can begin signing up to receive a one-time $80 check from the state’s largest electric utility starting Aug. 1 using the company’s website.

Customers who do not elect to receive a check will automatically receive an $80 credit on their September bill from Entergy.

Presley said that the $80 refund to all 421,000 Entergy customers is the direct result of Public Service Commission action last month in the closing of litigation filed by the PSC that produced a historic settlement valued at $300 million. Settlement proceeds will go toward the one-time $80 refund to customers, hedge against spikes in natural gas prices and prevent a $180 annual rate increase in 2023 along with a moratorium on certain profits of Entergy for four years.

“Our job at the PSC is to be a watchdog, not a lapdog agency and this $80 refund is a direct result of our action to protect the pocketbooks of Mississippians against over-profiting by corporate monopolies. I fought hard to give each Entergy customer the option to get this $80 in the form of a check rather than just a bill credit. With gas prices at $4 per gallon at the pump and inflation rising at every turn, I want customers who need this money for the family budget to get it now. If they just want a bill credit then they don’t have to sign up for a check and they’ll get the credit automatically in September,” Presley said in a news release.

Entergy Mississippi customers who opt for an $80 check have from Aug. 1 through Aug. 17 to register using their “MyEntergy” account at www.entergy-mississippi.com for their refund.