Entergy Mississippi
639 Loyola Ave , New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, including 9,000 megawatts of nuclear power. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.9 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of $11 billion and 13,500 employees.

History

The Entergy story began with a pile of sawdust and a handshake. The sawdust belonged to H. H. Foster, president of the Arkansas Land and Lumber Company. The handshake was between Foster and Harvey Couch, president of Arkansas Power Company.  Couch was an entrepreneur who lived in Arkansas at the turn of the 20th century. He invested in a phone company, radio station, railroad and his biggest success, an electric power company. On Nov. 13, 1913, with a $500,000 line of credit and a franchise to provide electricity to the Arkansas towns Malvern and Arkadelphia, Couch shook hands with H. H. Foster for his sawdust. Couch would use sawdust from Fosters lumber company as fuel to generate electricity for his power company. It was a new beginning for Harvey Couch and electric service in the state.  Couchs ultimate goal was to have an integrated electric system with numerous sources of power at a reasonable price. Service reliability was foremost on his mind. He knew if he could provide a reliable product at a good price he would succeed. With the fuel source secured, Couch began work on electrifying the state.   

On Dec.17, 1914, Malvern and Arkadelphia were lit up as the generators at the lumber company were turned on for the first time. Now called Arkansas Light and Power Company, Arkansas newest endeavor to bring the benefits of electricity to the rural south began with two 550 kilowatt generators and 22 miles of transmission lines.  Couchs company grew rapidly. Ten years later he completed construction of the Remmel hydroelectric dam on the Ouachita River. His transmission system now covered 300 miles. With a 9,000 kilowatt generator in place, Couch set his sights beyond the states boundaries.   Couch began acquiring independent electric properties in Jackson, Vicksburg, Columbus and Greenville, Miss. His plan was to develop an interconnected system much like the one in Arkansas, but between states. On April 12, 1923, Mississippi Power and Light Company was incorporated in Mississippi.

The fuel and electricity for this new company would come from Louisiana. The Louisiana Power Company was formed so Couch could take full advantage of the abundant supply of natural gas found in northern Louisiana. In November 1925, Couchs Sterlington generating station was placed online. The largest power plant south of St. Louis, its 30,000 kilowatt capacity was owned by three companies: Arkansas Light and Power, Mississippi Power and Light, and Louisiana Power Company.  At the dedication of the Sterlington plant, Gov. Harvey Parnell of Arkansas said, “Harvey Couch has done more to develop these three states – Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi – than any other man.” Coucs goal of an integrated electric system was becoming a reality.  Elsewhere, the competition to electrify New Orleans was fierce. Electric lighting had been introduced there at the 1884 Cotton Centennial Exposition, but high costs, fear and unreliability were obstacles to electrifying the city. In the early 1900s, nine separate electric companies competed in New Orleans. Nearly all were small, isolated generators that served limited areas, operated on different voltages and used various kinds of equipment. None were interconnected, even within the city.

Business at Entergy

At Entergy, we consistently strive to create sustainable value for our customers, employees, communities and owners. That concentrated focus drives the way we think as an organization. It enables us to effectively navigate through numerous transitions, both revolutionary and evolutionary, and still deliver on our commitments to our stakeholders.

Today and Beyond

  Throughout its history, Entergy has been a major source for economic development throughout its service territory, which includes some of the nations poorest regions. While providing a product vital to expansion, the company also has played an active role in attracting business and industry to the area. The companies utilities have announced numerous agreements in recent years to provide power to manufacturers, gas processing plants and other new commercial and industrial sites in the Gulf South. In the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, Gustav and Ike in 2008, Isaac in 2012, Harvey in 2017 and a series of damaging winter storms and tornadoes, Entergy companies have played a key role in rebuilding infrastructure so that communities affected by the storms have the best chance to revitalize their economies.  In addition to economic concerns, Entergy is heavily involved in environmental and social issues. Believing that all companies should be good corporate citizens, Entergy has pledged to cap greenhouse gases by partnering with the Environmental Defense Fund. In addition it is working hard on its low-income initiatives to help poor and fixed-income families with assistance when utility bills are higher during extreme cold and heat. Entergy leadership is actively involved with helping the Mississippi Delta region, one of the most economically deprived in the country, by attracting new business and interest in this untapped resource.  In 2007 Entergy sponsored an influential study on poverty often cited in the national policy debate, and announced a renewed commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. During 2008, Entergy was included in the Forbes list of Americans Most Trustworthy Companies, and received a special Award of Excellence from Platts Global Energy Awards for Entergys "extraordinary track record of standout performances year after year" over the past decade. The 2009 Sustainability Yearbook recognized Entergy among the top-scoring 15 percent of 2,500 worldwide companies on corporate sustainability measurements. In 2015, the company was named to the Dow Jones Sustainability North American Index and World Index. Entergy has been included on at least one of those indexes every year since 2002. In addition, in 2015 Corporate Responsibility Magazine again named Entergy Corporation as one of the top 100 corporate citizens in the United States. In 2015 the company was named for the eighth consecutive year by Site Selection Magazine one of the "Top Utilities in Economic Development in North America." Leo P. Denault, chairman and CEO, has noted that Entergy has a "unique opportunity in our utility business to power the industrial renaissance that is occurring in the Gulf South region."  The Entergy story began with a handshake between two people and it continues with another handshake -- a handshake that is not just a greeting between two businessmen wanting to make a deal, but a grasp between a business and its stakeholders. Entergy is reaching out to all customers, stockholders, regulators, and other interested parties to help realize what Harvey Couch knew in the earliest days of the company -- that if we are to be successful we must provide a reliable product at a good price. Entergy works hard every day at making this happen.

Utility

• Entergys electric utilities generate, transmit, distribute and sell electric power in a four-state service territory that includes portions of Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana, including the city of New Orleans. Entergy also operates natural gas distribution businesses in New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
• Approximately 22,000 MW generating capacity.
• Approximately 15,900 circuit miles of interconnected high-voltage transmission lines.

Fuel - Diversity and Supply 

Gerald Andrus retired in 1974 and Floyd Lewis became the third president of MSU. His major task was to deal with the effects of higher fuel prices and uncertain availability. Consumers were quick to respond and conservation became the order of the day.  The effects of conservation began taking their toll on electricity demand. While the system was building new plants based on previous forecasts, the demand for additional capacity did not materialize. The system canceled plans for additional units and began marketing efficiency to help customers with rising bills. Some plants could not be canceled and the publics reaction to paying for these additional units embroiled the system in controversy.  In 1980, the systems first coal-fired unit came on line. The White Bluff steam electric station, located near Pine Bluff, Ark., made Arkansas Power and Light the first system company to use all five major electricity-generation fuel types: oil, gas, coal, nuclear and hydroelectric.  Five years later, Grand Gulf One entered commercial operation, as did LP&Ls Waterford 3 nuclear plant. While the customers of LP&L were responsible for paying for Waterford 3, precisely who would pay for Grand Gulf One and the two-thirds complete Grand Gulf Two was still in question. The system was in the middle of troubled times.

Nuclear Power

    Having demonstrated its expertise at owning and operating the nuclear plants it built in the South, in 1998 Entergy formed a nuclear business development group, headquartered in Jackson, Miss., to pursue a growth strategy in areas outside the companys utility service area. The groups goal was for Entergy to become a leading national operator of nuclear power plants.  The following year, the company purchased Boston Edisons Pilgrim Station, the first ever U.S. nuclear plant sale by a utility. Entergy Nuclear then purchased Indian Point unit 3 (2000) and the James A. FitzPatrick plant (2000) from New York Power Authority, Indian Point unit 2 from Consolidated Edison (2001) and Vermont Yankee from its 12 owner companies (2002). In 2003, Entergy began providing management services to Nebraska Public Power District for its Cooper Nuclear Station. In 2007, Entergy purchased the Palisades plant in Covert, Mich. from Consumers Energy.