Entergy, the utility that serves Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas, told investors on 2 November that data center interest in its territory stands at 7 to 12 GW. None of that is in the company's base plan yet. Management expects the projects could turn into signed agreements within about 24 months, and it talked about the gas plants it is building in the meantime.
What The Quarter Showed
Entergy's earnings release says weather-adjusted industrial sales rose 4.9 percent in the third quarter, with data center and primary metals customers named as the drivers. Total retail sales were 39,864 GWh, 7.4 percent above last year's quarter. On the call, management said the system set a new record peak of more than 24,000 MW in August, and that Entergy Mississippi's peak rose 11 percent as data centers ramped up there.
The company also reported an expanded service agreement with Google for a campus in West Memphis, Arkansas. According to the call, the expansion includes about $600 million of battery storage, with the ramp starting in 2028.
Gas Plants In The Queue
The Orange County Advanced Power Station in Texas, a combined cycle plant of roughly 1.2 GW, is now operating. Management described ten more plants as under construction, nine in front of Louisiana regulators with decisions expected later this year, and four more further out in the supply plan. In the third quarter Entergy also signed firm gas transport agreements for 1.325 billion cubic feet a day, which the company says is enough for ten new combined cycle units in Louisiana.
The call figures come from a third-party transcript that carries its own caveat about errors, so the release and the company's filings are the safer reference for exact numbers.
A Utility Pipeline Is Not A Load Curve
Anyone who plans backup or bridging power next to a data center knows the gap between interest and energized load. A 7 to 12 GW pipeline over two years says that developers are queuing for the same grid, and that the utility is committing to large pipe and turbine purchases long before the load is signed. In that gap, on-site engine plants and generator sets carry the early phases of a campus. Our pages on data centers and power plants describe what these plants involve. A related look at how another utility counts its contracted load is in our report on Dominion.
One thing to watch in December: the Louisiana decisions on the nine plants in review.
Sources: Entergy (SEC filing), The Motley Fool (call transcript)
