NOLA.com8%
Entergy wants to spend $30 billion to expand its Louisiana power grid. How much will residents pay? 74%
By Sam Karlin87%
7/17/2026, 9:00:00 AM
BS Summary: This article contains 34 faulty reasoning types, including Self-Serving Bias, Appeal to Emotion, and Availability Heuristic, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 19.4% saturation with 212 hits. Analysis detected 1,942 faulty-reasoning hits from 1,094 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 66.2% and a BS Rank of 74% (5,701 of 21,886 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 74.00% of the article peer group.
Entergy Louisiana’s plans to spend an extraordinary $30 billion to expand and improve its infrastructure are drawing new scrutiny from elected officials, regulators and advocacy groups concerned about the potential impact on ratepayers.
If all of what Entergy wants to do is approved, the average residential customer’s monthly bill could rise by around $40, according to documents Entergy filed with the state Public Service Commission.
But Entergy CEO Phillip May said in an interview that the eventual amount customers actually pay to help fund the buildout is likely to be much less because he expects a growing base of industrial users will offset 50% or more of the costs.
“What will happen is we will see additional revenues that will pay for much of that cost,” May said.
“Including revenues we anticipate from the substantial economic growth in the state.”
Entergy’s plans reflect a never-before-seen level of growth in Louisiana’s electricity sector, drawing the interest of the governor, state lawmakers and others who historically have stayed out of the complex business of utility regulation.
“There are too many variables to look at ($40 a month) as a final number,” said Commissioner JP Coussan, a Lafayette Republican.
“It’s our job to make sure that Louisiana families are getting the best deal possible.
That includes not rubber-stamping every proposal that comes before us.”
Regulators have already raised concerns about Entergy’s planned $1.8 billion acquisition of a Texas power plant called Cottonwood, with a staff consultant saying it’s largely needed because of Meta’s emerging data center in northeast Louisiana.
Entergy and Meta insist that claim is false.
Entergy’s buildout has boosted its standing on Wall Street, where the company has seen significant growth in shareholder returns.
At its recent investor day in June, Entergy Corp. executives told investors that the company’s returns have outpaced the broader stock market.
And leaders from the utility welcomed Meta and Amazon executives onstage for a discussion about the two companies’ data centers in Mississippi in Louisiana.
“Our sales growth from two years ago has doubled to 9%,” CEO Drew Marsh told investors at the event at the New York Stock Exchange.
“Our five-year capital plan has doubled to $67 billion.
Our total shareholder return has more than doubled the S&P 500 over that time frame.”
May, CEO of Entergy Corp’s Louisiana subsidiary, said that while Wall Street is excited about Entergy’s growth opportunities, the company still has a target 9.7% profit that is regulated by the PSC.
If it under-earns, customers will pay more, and if it earns too much, rates will come down to bring the profit back down.
“That does not mean we’re making an unusually high return on our investment,” May said.
“The 9.7% return set by the commission is generally consistent with rates of return for the industry in general and actually a bit lower than what you see in the southeast region.”
While the state constitution gives the PSC the ultimate power to decide what to do, Gov.
Jeff Landry and some legislative leaders are also now stepping into the arena.
Landry issued an executive order on ratepayer protections last month after The Times-Picayune’s reporting on one of Entergy’s most controversial components of its spending plan, to buy a power plant called Cottonwood.
The order requires data center developers to pay for their own power if they want to take advantage of lucrative tax breaks by the state.
“These resources are vital to the welfare of our citizens and to the future of our economy, and that is why our approach demands thoughtful and responsible stewardship,” Landry said.
Sisung, the PSC consultant, concluded that Cottonwood is largely only needed because of Meta’s data center, prompting Landry to issue the order.
Meta and Entergy have rejected the idea that the data center is responsible for the energy needs, and Entergy will soon file a rebuttal.
“This consultant's report is inaccurate speculation given the facility will provide power to multiple Entergy customers and Entergy planned to acquire it before Meta decided to build in Louisiana,” Meta spokesperson Francis Brennan said in a statement.
Meanwhile, state Senate leaders have formed a task force on energy issues, including whether to allow industrial customers to buy or build their own power and go around Entergy.
Sen.
Bob Hensgens, R-Abbeville, a member of the task force, said in an interview that there’s a “new normal” in the electricity sector because of huge power needs of data centers and industrial plants, and the public has a hard time understanding how the PSC works.
“I just don’t find the process open enough,” Hensgens said.
“I’m not sure we’re taking every step to make sure we’re not socializing these costs.”
The Alliance for Affordable Energy, a nonprofit that advocates for ratepayers, is asking for more oversight of Entergy’s plans for Meta and other projects.
Executive director Logan Burke said Entergy’s spending plans come at a time when many households in the state are “already paying more than they can handle.”
The Alliance has also criticized Entergy’s huge expansion of its fleet of natural gas-fired power plants, noting the state already heavily relies on gas and that rising natural gas prices have hit residents hard.
Customers pay for the fuel like natural gas.
“If all of these plans come home to roost, not only are the bills going to spike, these costs are going to be locked in for decades with no way out,” she said.
“The commission must take action to limit the harms at the front end, even if they won’t be in office when the bills come due.”
And the Louisiana Energy Users Group, which represents a group of industrial companies with 92 facilities in the state, is also raising questions about Entergy’s plans.
LEUG has argued for years that its industry members should be able to get their own power, a proposal that has failed to win approval so far.
Last month, LEUG filed comments at the commission expressing concerns about the rate hikes on the way for customers because of the $30 billion in spending Entergy is planning.
While growth in the number of customers may offset some of the impacts, “there is risk to existing ratepayers in the meantime.”
“Louisiana’s current rules for private generation investment were developed more than 40 years ago,” Young, LEUG’s attorney, wrote.
“We don’t buy cellphones or computers from 40 years ago, so why should Louisiana limit itself to more than 40 year old rules for electric generation?”
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