Entergy (NYSE: ETR), the second-largest U.S. operator of nuclear power plants, said it will not spin-off six nuclear power plants into a separately company after the plan was rejected by New York regulators, but there is some good news for shareholders as the New Orleans-based company announced a dividend increase of 11%, Entergy's first dividend increase since 2007.

The new quarterly dividend will be 83 cents a share, up from 75 cents, and will be payable on June 1st to shareholders of record on May 12th.

Due to the canceled spinoff, Entergy said it will take a charge of 40 cents to 45 cents a share and although the proceeds from the spinoff were expected to be used to finance share repurchases, Entergy did say it expects to return $5 billion to shareholders in the form of dividends and buybacks over the next five years.

With the new dividend, Entergy shares would yield 4.1%. The company had $1.7 billion in cash and cash equivalents at the end of 2009.