Entergy announced on Thursday that it will be adding an additional charge to customers' bills for the next five months to make up for costs incurred due to the winter freeze in February.

The company is attributing the charges to higher prices for natural gas at the time, which is used to generate power for many of its facilities.

Entergy released the following statement in regards to the additional charges:

As a result of the higher gas pricing and volumes used to create more electricity, recoverable fuel costs for the month of April would have been approximately $45 more than in March for a typical residential customer consuming 1,000 kWh.

The company said it will be dividing up the cost over the next five pay periods. On average, customers can expect an extra $9 charge on their April through August bills.

The Louisiana Public Service Commission will audit the fuel costs.

This comes as a special auditor is looking into claims made by many residents about higher-than-usual bills after Entergy began installing its new smart meters.

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