Entergy Texas Investing Today to Power Southeast Texas Economy

New legislation improves State's economic competitiveness

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Jun 18, 2019, 09:00 ET

THE WOODLANDS, Texas, June 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Entergy Texas, Inc. is delivering on key investments as part of its Bright Future plan for Southeast Texas. This comprehensive investment in infrastructure will ensure reliability, create new jobs and spur economic development across Southeast Texas.

As the region grows, Entergy is taking the necessary steps to ensure that residents and businesses have safe, reliable and low-cost energy. Since the start of 2019, Entergy Texas has taken steps to:

Build new sources of reliable, low-cost energy. Earlier this year, Entergy Texas broke ground on the Montgomery County Power Station. MCPS will provide 993 megawatts of reliable, low-cost energy to power Southeast Texas when placed in service in 2021. Additionally in March 2019, Entergy Texas issued a request for proposals for up to 200 MW of solar photovoltaic resources to be located in Texas.
Enable future growth through transmission investment. Entergy Texas has also completed two major transmission projects that provide needed infrastructure to meet future demand. First, the China-Stowell transmission line was placed into service in May 2019. Additionally, Phase 1 of the Western Region Economic Project, a rebuild of the Newton Bulk to Leach line, was placed in service in May 2019.
Modernize tools to serve customers. Entergy Texas is also deploying customer-centric solutions that will improve service for customers through the deployment of an advance meter system. Advanced meter deployment is well underway in Texas, with more than 35,000 meters already deployed.

As Entergy Texas invests to power the Southeast Texas economy, recent legislation passed by the Texas Legislature empowers the Public Utility Commission to improve the regulatory framework for companies looking to build electric generation. HB 1397, by Rep. Dade Phelan (Beaumont) and Sen. Robert Nichols (Jacksonville) allows the Public Utility Commission of Texas to approve a rider that would permit a non-ERCOT utility to recover electric generation investments without regulatory lag, improving electric utilities' ability to power a growing region.

"I would like to thank Governor Abbott, Chairman Phelan, Senator Nichols, and the Legislature for their commitment to ensuring that Texas remains economically competitive," said Sallie Rainer, president and CEO of Entergy Texas. "Entergy Texas is committed to making the investments today that will enable future growth. The ability, with approval from the Public Utility Commission, to begin recovering these investments in a more timely manner will help us as we create value for our four key stakeholders – customers, employees, communities and owners."

These reforms build on steps the Legislature has taken in previous sessions to modernize the regulatory environment for non-ERCOT utilities. The PUC also can approve a Transmission Cost Recovery Factor and a Distribution Cost Recovery Factor, which similarly help to reduce regulatory lag and enable more timely recovery of capital investments by utilities.

Entergy Texas, Inc. provides electricity to approximately 450,000 customers in 27 counties. 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 nearly 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 approximately $11 billion and more than 13,000 employees.

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SOURCE Entergy Corporation