Entergy-Koch Approved, Open for Business Today; Subsidiaries Axia Energy, Axia Energy Europe, Gulf South Pipeline Set to Begin Operations.

Business Editors

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 1, 2001

Entergy-Koch, LP, a new wholesale energy trading, transportation and marketing company here, has earned final regulatory approval and opens for business today.

EKLP, a privately held company formed by subsidiaries of Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) and Koch Industries, Inc. delivers, markets and trades power, natural gas and other energy-related commodities, including weather derivatives, through wholly owned subsidiaries Axia Energy, LP, Axia Energy Europe Ltd, and Gulf South Pipeline Company, LP.

With EKLP's startup, trading subsidiary Axia Energy ranks among the nation's top ten energy commodity traders, in terms of combined volumes of electricity and natural gas traded. It will trade volumes in excess of 100 million megawatt hours of electricity annually and 5 billion cubic feet of gas daily and provide customers a broad range of commodity sources and options, including gas, emissions, power, weather derivatives and additional risk management tools.

EKLP has assets of about $1 billion, including the approximately 9,000-mile Gulf South interstate pipeline network (previously called Koch Gateway Pipeline), one of the largest natural gas transmission systems in the region, and the Bisteneau gas storage facility. These assets, as well as the marketing and trading capabilities of what was previously known as Koch Energy Trading, Inc., were contributed to the new company by Koch Industries. Entergy Corp. contributed its power marketing and trading businesses -- which consisted of Entergy Power Marketing Corp. in the United States, and Entergy Trading and Marketing Ltd in Europe -- as well as a cash investment.

"We're excited to begin serving this marketplace," said Kyle Vann, EKLP's president and chief executive officer. "We'll provide dependable, cost-effective gas transportation and supply, and we'll offer energy customers throughout North America and Europe a variety of services to run their businesses and mitigate risk as the gas and power markets evolve through deregulation. The complementary assets contributed to EKLP by Entergy and Koch -- in natural gas and in the marketing and trading of power and other energy commodities -- have given us the assets and the scale to compete and grow."

Vann highlighted key attributes which were contributed to EKLP from its parent companies, including a leading position in energy commodities markets and the highly disciplined commodity trading controls, procedures and systems contributed by Koch, as well as the capabilities in domestic and international power marketing and trading received from Entergy. Vann also said EKLP will market power and provide risk management and trading services for Entergy's existing and future merchant plants.

Vann expects the expanded scope and resources of the new venture to create additional growth opportunities for weather derivatives -- financial instruments designed to enable utilities and other businesses to hedge their risks of cost or sales volume fluctuations associated with temperature changes. Axia Energy, from its outset, is a market leader in that area, accounting for about 25 percent of such trades.

EKLP, which has an A credit rating from Standard and Poor and an A3 rating from Moody's Investors Service, has received all necessary regulatory approvals to form EKLP. Plans for EKLP -- which is the first venture between Koch, one of the nation's most successful energy traders, and Entergy, the third-largest U.S. generator of electric power and the nation's largest natural gas-fired generating fleet -- were initially announced in April 2000.

An eight-member board of directors governs EKLP. Entergy Corp.'s board chairman, Robert v.d. Luft, is chairman of the new company's board. Other EKLP board members include Wayne Leonard, Entergy's CEO; Don Hintz, Entergy's president; John Wilder, Entergy's CFO; Charles Koch, Koch Industries' chairman and CEO; Joe Moeller, Koch Industries' president and COO; Sam Soliman, Koch Industries' CFO; and Cy Nobles, senior vice president for Koch Industries.

Background on Entergy-Koch, LP Members

Entergy Corporation owns, manages or invests in power plants generating more than 30,000 megawatts of electricity domestically and internationally and delivers electricity to about 2.5 million customers in portions of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy, with about 12,000 employees, is a major global energy company engaged in power production and distribution operations. The Entergy futures contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) is one of the largest electricity trading points in the nation. Entergy's Web site can be found at www.entergy.com.

Koch Industries, Inc. and its subsidiary companies employ 11,500 people worldwide and are involved in virtually all phases of the oil and gas industry, as well as in chemicals, plastics, energy services, chemical and environmental technology products, asphalt products, metals and mineral services, ranching, financial services, and ventures. More information on Koch is available at www.kochind.com.

Editors' Note: Correspondents wanting additional information on Entergy-Koch, LP are invited to join a news media teleconference at 1 p.m. CST today. Participants should dial 888/847-6595. The password for the call is "Entergy-Koch." CEO Kyle Vann and CFO Dennis Albrecht will be available to answer questions about the new company during this conference call.

The following constitutes a "Safe Harbor" statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements contained in the foregoing release with respect to the revenues, earnings, performance, strategies, prospects and other aspects of the business of Entergy Corporation may involve risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties relating to: the effects of weather, the performance of generating units and transmission systems, the possession of nuclear materials, fuel prices and availability, the effects of regulatory decisions and changes in law, litigation, capital spending requirements, the onset of competition, advances in technology, changes in accounting standards, corporate restructuring and changes in capital structure,

movements in the markets for electricity and other energy-related commodities, changes in interest rates and in financial and foreign currency markets generally, changes in corporate strategies, and other factors.