NATCHEZ — Entergy Mississippi announced Thursday plans for its customers to receive a rate reduction this fall.

The reason for the reduction, company officials said, is because natural gas prices have been lower than expected. The company says its costs are passed dollar-for-dollar to customers, so lower fuel costs means lower electricity rates.

Under the new rates, a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours per month will pay approximately $6.50 less than their current bill, the company said.

Under the new billing cycle, a 1,000-kilowatt user would pay approximately $101.81 each month.

“Natural gas prices have decreased since the third quarter of 2014 and have remained lower than expected, and those fuel savings are being flowed back to customers through a decrease in bills,” said Haley Fisackerly, Entergy Mississippi president and CEO.

“We’re proud of the investments our company has made for our customers in nuclear and natural gas-fired power generation. We believe, over the long term, this will continue to help keep our rates below the national average.”

The company has decreased rates three times this year. The first time was in February, when Entergy introduced a rate modernization plan, and the second was in July due to a second revision to the same plan.

With the three revisions in place, customer’s bills are approximately $10 cheaper per 1,000 kilowatt hours.