Entergy in a New Era of Data Center Driven Load Growth

The U.S. electric grid is entering its most consequential period of investment in decades, driven by a wave of hyperscale data centers and industrial projects that are transforming demand patterns across the country. Nowhere is this more evident than in Entergy’s four-state footprint, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Texas, where the utility has quietly emerged as one of the nation’s most important providers of AI-era infrastructure.

While Georgia often draws headlines for its integrated resource planning framework, Entergy is achieving comparable or greater scale through a series of state-specific regulatory wins, customer contracts, and targeted legislative changes. The result is a coordinated buildout of new generation and transmission that positions the company at the center of the next decade of load growth.

Louisiana: Meta, Multi-GW Gas Plants, and Formula Rate Agility

Louisiana is the clearest example of how Entergy is securing, and monetizing, AI-driven demand.

Earlier this year, the Louisiana Public Service Commission approved three new combined-cycle gas plants, totaling roughly 2.3 GW, along with the transmission needed to deliver the power to Meta’s Hyperion data-center complex. The deal gives Entergy long-term cost recovery through Louisiana’s Formula Rate Plan (FRP), allowing the utility to bring each generator into rates immediately upon entering service.

This is a regulatory structure built for speed: a single proceeding effectively combined resource certification, tariff design, and cost recovery for a customer-driven megaproject. And more may follow. Louisiana is now evaluating up to 3 GW of additional solar, which could support future Meta expansion and other large customers, further expanding Entergy’s owned-asset runway.

Arkansas: Google Arrives—and So Does a New Recovery Mechanism

Arkansas saw a significant development of its own in October when Google announced a $4 billion investment in the state, which includes a data-center campus supported by new Entergy-sponsored generation.

The utility is pursuing a 600 MW solar facility with a 350 MW battery system and a proposed 754 MW combined-cycle plant. All three resources are now moving through certification dockets.

Crucially, Arkansas created a Strategic Investment Recovery (SIR) Rider in 2025—outside the constraints of the traditional FRP—which allows Entergy to recover financing and operating costs for major grid and generation projects tied to economic development.

Texas: A Vertically Integrated Utility in a Deregulated State

Utility projects in Texas are often associated with ERCOT and competitive markets, but Entergy Texas operates under an entirely different structure. It participates in MISO South, remains fully regulated, and can build generation for cost-of-service recovery.

That structure is paying off.

In late 2025, the Public Utility Commission of Texas approved a package of dispatchable plants—the 754 MW Legend combined-cycle unit and the 453 MW Lone Star combustion turbine—plus new high-voltage transmission to strengthen reliability in the booming Beaumont–Port Arthur–Houston corridor.

Mississippi: AWS and a New Pre-Certification Pathway

Mississippi may be Entergy’s fastest-changing jurisdiction. Following AWS’s $10 billion data-center announcement, state lawmakers passed a unique statute allowing pre-certification of generation tied to major data-processing loads.

Entergy leveraged that framework to advance the 754 MW Delta Blues Advanced Power Station, a combined-cycle plant serving AWS through a confidential long-term agreement. Construction is already underway at Delta Blues. Moreover, Entergy Mississippi recently announced two new combined cycle plants: Vicksburg and Traceview, each at 754 MW of capacity.

A Capital Plan Expanding at Historic Scale

Taken together, these state-level actions have transformed Entergy’s forward investment profile.

Since 2023, the utility’s three-year CapEx plan has expanded by more than 80%, with Louisiana and Mississippi seeing the largest increases, driven by multi-GW generation approvals, new transmission, and anticipated renewable additions.

Financing Growth with Limited Dilution

What differentiates Entergy is not just the scale of investment but the capital discipline behind it.

Long-term contracts with customers like Meta and AWS provide up-front revenue support that strengthens funds-from-operations. Recoverable-upon-service mechanisms across Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Texas minimize regulatory lag.

Why This Matters

The U.S. is entering a new era of electricity demand. Hyperscale data centers, industrial expansions, and AI workloads are creating multi-GW needs in locations far from traditional load centers.

Entergy’s response—customer-driven generation, coordinated state-level regulatory strategies, and accelerated capital deployment—shows how a large utility can evolve rapidly while maintaining regulatory stability and financial discipline.

For a deeper data-driven dive, including docket-level analysis and state-by-state capital trajectories, you can read the full long-form report available on the FactSet Workstation.

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