News Release > Entergy aims to power economic progress through new infrastructure

Entergy aims to power economic progress through new infrastructure

03/25/2024

EDITOR'S NOTE: A copy of the filing made with the Louisiana Public Service Commission can be found here. 

Company’s blueprint to support burgeoning needs of businesses and industry

JEFFERSON, La. – To power the state’s economic progress from Metairie to Monroe, Baton Rouge, Lake Charles and beyond, Entergy Louisiana will begin executing a strategic blueprint for building new electric infrastructure that meets the burgeoning needs of businesses and industry to power job growth throughout the state.

Louisiana has a generational opportunity that is set to create new jobs, new investment and additional revenues for local governments as local business and industries and new companies seek to grow in our state. It is an opportunity that is being driven, in large part, by what the state already has to offer such as prime operating locations along waterways like the Mississippi River and access to the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the availability of a well-trained workforce, feedstocks and clean, reliable and affordable power.

In response, Entergy is doing its part to support economic development and the communities it serves by powering this opportunity with investments in all levels of its power grid. This investment is in addition to Entergy’s long-standing investment in job training programs in Louisiana to develop and prepare a workforce that will benefit from this economic growth opportunity.

At the transmission level, Entergy plans to build a new 500/230kV substation in Iberville Parish and nearly 60 miles of new 230kV transmission lines that would cross five parishes from Iberville to Jefferson. These transmission components were included in a filing made recently with the Louisiana Public Service Commission; it is one of several related filings Entergy plans to make this year with the Commission.

“Louisiana industries all across our state have steadfastly supported our workforce and local communities for many years,” said Phillip May, Entergy Louisiana president and CEO. “At Entergy, we are committed to sustaining a partnership with them by meeting their growing demand for clean, reliable and affordable power.”

In addition to the transmission-related filing, Entergy has proposed a comprehensive resilience plan that, if approved by the Commission, would upgrade transmission- and distribution-level electric equipment across its Louisiana service territory. This plan would strengthen the power grid for the benefit of all customers and help protect local communities and economy from future weather threats.

On the generation side, the company is also taking steps to make sure customers have access to clean energy through renewable sources. Increasingly, companies are turning to their utility provider to help them meet sustainability goals, and to do this, Entergy has gotten innovative by electrifying ports, for example, and is working to develop the largest expansion of renewable power in Louisiana history.

In addition, the company is making sure it can balance supply and demand by maintaining a diverse mix of generation resources that include not only renewables, but also nuclear and natural gas. To meet the unique needs of customers near the coast that are vital to local and national economies, the company recently filed a request to construct a floating natural gas power plant that would be called Bayou Power Station.

To learn more about how Entergy Louisiana is working to create a bright future for our state, visit  entergy.com/brightfuturela.  

About Entergy Louisiana

Entergy Louisiana, LLC provides electric service to more than 1 million customers in 58 parishes and natural gas service to more than 94,000 customers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Entergy Louisiana is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR), an integrated energy company engaged in electric power production, transmission and retail distribution operations. Entergy delivers electricity to 3 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy owns and operates one of the cleanest large-scale U.S. power generating fleets with approximately 24,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, including 5,000 megawatts of nuclear power. Headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, Entergy has annual revenues of $10 billion and approximately 12,000 employees.