Entergy Corp. increased its four-year capital by $2.7 billion to $37 billion compared to November 2024 to accommodate demand for renewable and dispatchable generation primarily in Louisiana and Mississippi.
The capital plan includes a significant expansion of gas generation, including assets to meet datacenter demand in Louisiana, along with both the 1,306-MW Orange County Advanced Power Station in Texas and the 879-MW Delta Blues Advanced Power Station in Mississippi, currently under construction.
Entergy has approvals pending for an additional combustion turbine in Arkansas, three combined-cycle facilities in Louisiana and one of each in Texas, Entergy Chairman and CEO Andrew Marsh said.
"We have a strong track record for building highly efficient combined-cycle projects despite external challenges," Marsh added.
The company has continued to see growth in its industrial segment, Marsh said, with industrial sales up 15% in the fourth quarter and 8% in full-year 2024. Large customers drove that growth primarily in petroleum refining, chlor-alkali and technology industries, Entergy Executive Vice President and CFO Kimberly Fontan said.
Entergy expects industrial sales to see a compound annual growth rate of 12% to 13% through 2028, Marsh added.
The company added two large hyperscale datacenters to its 2024 outlook and on a Feb. 18 call to discuss its financial results announced a new electric service agreement with an unnamed large customer in Mississippi.
"The customer has not announced their project, so we can't provide additional details at this time," Marsh said.
Investors responded well to Entergy's results. In trading after 3 p.m. ET on Feb. 18, the company's stock price was up more than 6% on the day.
Utility subsidiary Entergy Louisiana LLC also anticipates signing an agreement with Facebook parent company Meta Platforms Inc. to expand capacity needs for its planned Louisiana datacenter to be powered with new gas generation. (Docket No. U-37425)
Fontan said Entergy Louisiana will be able to serve the capacity needs for the Meta project without additional generation beyond what the company has filed for thus far, though it will likely require new transmission facilities "which are anticipated to be paid for by the customer."
"Datacenters remain the largest growth category and we continue to have 5 GW to 10 GW of datacenter opportunity within our larger pipeline," Marsh said.
Nuclear
Entergy is exploring expansion of its nuclear fleet, including upgrades at existing plants, 20-year license extensions and options for new resources.
"We actually are looking at all forms of new nuclear," Marsh said, mentioning the AP1000 reactor design. "Certainly we would be looking at [AP1000s] because, in a lot of ways, that could de-risk entry into the new nuclear space."
But Marsh said the company is also evaluating small modular reactor technologies and has an agreement with Holtec International Inc. to consider its design. Entergy is looking at others, too, including GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Inc.'s BWRX-300 design.
"We're not exclusive to any particular new nuclear technology," Marsh said, adding that Entergy is discussing the possibility of expanding its nuclear fleet with both state and federal officials.
"There is a lot of bipartisan interest in new nuclear," he said. "I imagine that those conversations will continue and there'll be opportunities going forward in the new nuclear space."
Results
Entergy reported fourth-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings of $291 million, or 66 cents per share, compared to $111 million, or 26 cents per share, in the fourth quarter of 2023. The S&P Capital IQ consensus normalized EPS estimate for Entergy was 63 cents for fourth-quarter 2024.
The company reported full-year 2024 adjusted earnings of $1.58 billion, or $3.65 per share, compared to $1.44 billion, or $3.39 per share, in 2023. The S&P Capital IQ normalized consensus EPS estimate for Entergy in 2024 was $3.64.
Entergy also raised its growth outlook beyond 2025.
"Because growth in most years is now greater than our previous range of 8% to 9%, and we see additional growth opportunities, we are simplifying our disclosure by removing the top end of the range," Marsh said. "We're now simply noting our long-term growth rate through 2028 as greater than 8%."
Entergy executed a two-for-one forward stock split effective Dec. 13, 2024.
With the increased capital plan, Entergy increased its equity needs by $300 million in 2026. The company has already secured $1.4 billion of equity it plans to exercise in 2025 and 2026, leaving $3.3 billion to be sourced, 75% of which is not expected to be needed until 2027 and 2028, Fontan said.
The company's forecast includes growing toward 15% funds-from-operations to debt.
