Entergy CEO Drew Marsh said the utility’s third quarter contained yet more prep work for large industrial customers and development for carbon capture alongside more nuclear and solar generation.    

Marsh estimated Entergy’s compound annual growth rate in industrial sales at 11 to 12%, 300 basis points higher due to a large new industrial customer that recently signed a 15-year electric service agreement with Entergy Louisiana.  

“We don’t disclose specific customer details without their consent, so we can’t provide additional information at this time,” Marsh said during an Oct. 31 earnings call.  

Marsh said the major customer will bring economic activity to a portion of northern Louisiana “that has been economically disadvantaged for decades.”  

Although no docket in the case is available yet at the Louisiana Public Service Commission, Entergy has shared a redacted version of its application for approval of generation and transmission to host an “economically transformative” $5 billion investment the unnamed customer is looking to site in Richland Parish. The utility hopes to build three new combined cycle combustion turbines and a 500-kV line.  

Entergy reported third-quarter earnings of $2.99/share and third-quarter net income of $644.9 million, down year-over-year due to 2023’s exceptionally hot summer in the South.  

However, Marsh said Entergy had a “very productive quarter” marked by higher industrial sales and growing demand for clean energy. 

Marsh said other large industrial customers increasingly are looking to Entergy for zero-carbon energy offerings.  

“Collectively, this means that our preliminary capital plan through 2028 is $7 billion higher than on Analysts’ Day, driven by new transmission as well as incremental new generation investment, including renewables,” he said. 

At Entergy’s annual Analysts’ Day in June, the utility announced a $33 billion, five-year capital plan.  

Marsh noted that Entergy Arkansas’ 100-MW Walnut Bend Solar farm, built in partnership with Invenergy, was placed in service during the quarter, and Entergy Arkansas also closed on its 180-MW West Memphis Solar and 250-MW Driver Solar facilities.  

Marsh said Entergy now has nearly 800 MW of solar resources in service and close to 2.6 GW of solar projects “in process, approved or under regulatory review.”  

Marsh said Entergy plans to build even more customer-driven renewable energy sources, mentioning Entergy Louisiana’s request for proposals to acquire 3 GW of new solar. 

He also noted that Entergy Mississippi announced plans this quarter to build a 750-MW dual-fuel, combined cycle plant, its first new natural gas power station in 50 years. He said the plant will be hydrogen ready and designed to be outfitted eventually with carbon capture technology.  

Marsh said Entergy is gearing up for carbon capture and storage (CCS) to take a role in the clean energy transition and is in “active discussions with customers about “a variety” of low-carbon generation solutions, including carbon capture.  

Marsh said Entergy Louisiana continues its front-end engineering and design study to evaluate the technical and financial feasibility of installing carbon capture at the Lake Charles Power Station, with the company enlisting the help of Crescent Midstream.  

“Once completed, the learnings from this work will benefit future CCS projects. Ultimately, we believe CCS is a critical technology to comply with eventual federal emissions requirements, to help our customers meet their decarbonization objectives and for us to achieve our 2050 net-zero commitment,” Marsh said.  

Marsh indicated Entergy is ready to partake in the nuclear revival taking hold in the country.  

Entergy believes nuclear power will factor heavily in its path to net-zero emissions by 2050 and is “well-positioned to evaluate and ultimately pursue new nuclear options,” Marsh said.  

Marsh said Entergy is actively exploring potential nuclear plant uprate projects that could add as much as 300 MW in capacity at the utility’s Arkansas and Louisiana nuclear plants. 

Marsh also brought up that Entergy since 2007 has held an early site permit from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a potential new reactor at its Grand Gulf nuclear site and invoked the utility’s memorandum of understanding with Holtec International to evaluate small modular reactors.  

During the past quarter, the Louisiana Public Service Commission unanimously approved a $95 million settlement with Grand Gulf owner and Entergy subsidiary System Energy Resources to resolve all complaints related to Grand Gulf’s past performance lags. It also unanimously approved an agreement to divest Entergy Louisiana’s share of Grand Gulf energy and capacity to Entergy Mississippi. (See Entergy Touts Louisiana Settlements, Beryl Response in Q2 Earnings.)  

Entergy has submitted additional filings to the Mississippi Public Service Commission and FERC to approve the divestiture.