Entergy told investors on its third-quarter earnings call on Monday that an amended application to serve a Google data center in West Memphis, Arkansas would save Arkansas ratepayers at least $500 million more than the $1.6 billion previously agreed, CEO Drew Marsh said, according to Utility Dive.
Entergy filed the amended contract with Arkansas regulators last month. If approved, the company would add 350 MW of battery energy storage at two sites and procure 440 MW of solar from Pattern Energy's Big Island Solar project. The Arkansas Public Service Commission is set to hear the matter in January. Marsh said Google would pay $600 million toward the cost of the battery systems. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported on October 20 that the amended contract would expand power demand from the West Memphis data center, with the exact amount redacted.
In Louisiana, state regulators approved Entergy Louisiana's $1.2 billion, 500-kV Babel to Webre transmission project in October. Commission staff also reached a settlement with the utility on several gigawatts of generation and related infrastructure to serve Meta's planned Hyperion data center campus, and the Louisiana Public Service Commission is set to vote next month. Entergy plans about $12.9 billion for seven combined-cycle gas plants totaling 5,278 MW, plus a $1.4 billion transmission line and 200 MW of battery storage. It signed firm pipeline agreements for 1.325 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas.
Entergy said data center interest in its pipeline stands at 7 GW to 12 GW, with traditional industrial discussions at 3 GW to 5 GW. Projected four-year capital spending has risen to about $55 billion as of September 30. Earnings rose more than 20% from a year earlier and total electricity sales increased 5%.
Source: Utility Dive - https://www.utilitydive.com/news/entergy-makes-progress-on-arkansas-data-center-reports-strong-q3-sales/873873/