This recognition honors exceptional restoration and rehabilitation projects completed in Orleans parish in 2024.

“The variety of this year’s thirteen award-winning projects reflects the strength and reach of historic preservation across New Orleans,” says Michael Mancuso, president of Louisiana Landmarks Society. “These efforts are essential to preserving our city’s character while contributing to its cultural and economic growth.”

The Claiborne Substation, a century-old brick masonry structure, has long served as a vital power hub for the Greater New Orleans area. Originally built as a power generation facility, the substation played a foundational role in electrifying the Vieux Carré and predates the well-known Market Street Power Plant. Although in continuous operation, the facility had deteriorated significantly over time.

The award recognizes the team’s efforts to preserve and rehabilitate the historic site while keeping it fully operational. Despite the complexity, the team successfully balanced preservation with functionality using expert craftsmanship, careful planning, and strategic project management.

At Entergy New Orleans, our work goes beyond powering homes and businesses. We are committed to strengthening our city by investing in projects that reflect the culture, history, and resilience of the communities we serve.

A striking mural now spans the wall of this historic site and serves as the final phase of the revitalization effort. New Orleans-based artist Brenden Palmer-Angell, known for his deep connection to the city and his symbolic, meaningful approach to public art, was commissioned to bring the mural to life. The mural, added after the three-year restoration effort, now stands as a powerful symbol of rebirth and renewal for both the building and the community.

The mural features a white heron surrounded by a cornucopia of native healing plants—passionflower, elderberry flower, sassafras leaf, blooming cats’ claw, and red Mamou. According to the artist, the heron symbolizes wisdom, peace, resourcefulness, and adaptability. The plants represent natural elements that promote healing and clarity. Together, these components deliver a message of hope, unity, and resilience.

“This is our community, and we want to see it flourish,” said Deanna Rodriguez, president and CEO of Entergy New Orleans. “We’re honored to receive this award and proud to play a role in preserving the history that makes our city so unique.”

The mural and restoration project reflects Entergy New Orleans’ ongoing commitment to investing in the communities we serve. We are thankful for the recognition by the Louisiana Landmarks Society and will continue to champion projects that celebrate our city’s rich history while building a stronger, more beautiful New Orleans for generations to come.

In our 100-year history of providing reliable and affordable power to Mississippians, no area has a chapter in our story like that of the Rex Brown Cooling Pond. The chapter, which we’ve officially finished by returning the property back to Jackson Public Schools, played a critical role in keeping the lights on for thousands of homes and businesses.

Commonly known to the community as Lake Hico, the Rex Brown Cooling Pond was created in the 1950’s to supply a pipeline from the Pearl River to Entergy Mississippi’s (formerly Mississippi Power & Light) . This pump system allowed us to safely recirculate water to the plant and continue generating electricity at Rex Brown until the plant’s retirement in 2019.

Older Jacksonians might recall fishing, or even taking a dip in the body of water. That’s because up until 1960’s environmental laws were enacted, industrial cooling ponds could coexist as recreational facilities. Similarly, in 1961 MP&L adopted hard hats as essential gear for line workers. The focus on the safety of worksites and communities clearly took a turn for good during that decade.

Though the plant sat on Entergy property, the cooling pond was on 16^th section land, managed by JPS. Without the cooling pond the plant’s 71-year legacy could not have been, and for that we are thankful for a decades-long relationship as a tenant to the school district.

When we made the decision to retire Rex Brown and invest in more modern, reliable power generation, we knew that closing the plant would make Lake Hico an attractive site for future community or economic development. So, with the approval of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, we got to work on a plan to appropriately close the lake and return the land to its original state.

We’ve imploded what was left of Rex Brown, so that it wouldn’t be an eyesore or safety hazard. We’ve drained the lake and completed soil testing to ensure its safety for future use. We’ve even updated fencing, so the land is secured while its destiny is decided.

Recently, JPS has held community forums to gather suggestions on what the next phase of Lake Hico should be. No matter the final decision, Entergy Mississippi eagerly looks forward to serving the development in its new Northside Drive home.

Thank you, Lake Hico, for once being our home too.

Here’s a list of the most viewed stories in our newsroom this year:

#1

The most viewed story in our newsroom this year happened at the top of the year with the announcement of the . The $10 billion investment by Amazon Web Services, Inc., will bring new jobs and economic development opportunities to the state. It will also support long-term power reliability and affordability for all Entergy Mississippi customers.

#2

In November, the company  and celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Gerald Andrus Steam Electric Station. All in Greenville, the Delta Blues Advanced Power Station will replace Gerald Andrus with more clean and efficient generation – ensuring customers continue to have modern, reliable energy well into the future.

#3

Just in time for the summer heatwave, the Mississippi Public Service Commission  and help keep bills stable for customers. Entergy Mississippi’s residential rates continue to be among the lowest in the nation and have grown more slowly than the cost of other goods since 2005.

#4

Ahead of Hurricane Francine’s landfall in Louisiana, , and encouraged customers to get prepared for the peak of hurricane season. Crews worked as quickly and safely as possible to restore power to  who lost power after the storm moved through the state.

#5

This year, Entergy Mississippi to older adults and customers with disabilities. The company announced the contribution at one of the final games played by the Mississippi Braves baseball team in Pearl. The bill assistance, which includes contributions from employees, customers and shareholders, is distributed through Entergy’s The Power to Care program, with the help of The Salvation Army.

#6

Five communities in Entergy Mississippi’s service area  to help boost business growth in their communities. The grants are awarded through the Excellerator Competitive Communities program, which helps communities within Entergy’s service area expand and attract new businesses and jobs.

#7

In March, Entergy Mississippi  in the Snowden Grove Park community, near Tchulahoma Road in Southaven. The substation is a part of a $37 million project, which enhances reliability for the existing transmission and distribution systems by providing capacity for future residential, commercial and industrial growth in DeSoto County.

#8

In October, the Entergy Charitable Foundation  to help fund the creation of the Critical Power Grid Network Security Lab. This advanced initiative between Jackson State and Entergy will create an innovation hub to help train a highly skilled cybersecurity workforce to meet the growing needs of nuclear, electric and natural gas companies, and electrical cooperatives. It’s the largest contribution the company has made to any school in the state.

#9

This summer, Entergy Mississippi  through its Beat the Heat program focused on helping its low-income customers and communities stay cool and pay their bills. Customers received bill payment assistance, fans, energy efficiency kits, home weatherization and invaluable support from local community partners.

#10

Providing customers with power they can depend on, at a price they can afford is a longstanding mission of Entergy Mississippi. Data from earlier this year showed the efforts the company has put forth to maintain reliability and affordability have yielded great results – allowing more investment in infrastructure and better performance.

Located near Russellville, ANO is home to two pressurized water reactors. Unit 1 began operations on Dec. 19, 1974, followed by Unit 2 on March 26, 1980. Together, these units provide low-cost energy to more than 730,000 Entergy Arkansas customers. ANO exemplifies Entergy’s mission of delivering affordable, reliable and sustainable power to the communities it serves with approximately 70% of the power delivered to Arkansas coming from nuclear power.

“Marking the 50th anniversary of ANO is a celebration of its enduring contribution to our state’s progress,” said Entergy Arkansas President and CEO Laura Landreaux. “As we look to the future, its role will be even more critical in powering innovation, attracting investments in our state and ensuring a sustainable energy future. Together, we’re not just meeting today’s energy needs, we’re building the foundation for tomorrow’s opportunities.”

With more than 1,800 MW of capacity, ANO alone can provide enough energy for nearly one million households, making it the backbone of an Entergy Arkansas generation fleet that is vast, varied and growing to meet the needs of customers.

“Celebrating our 50th anniversary is a proud moment for everyone here at ANO and our local community,” said Doug Pehrson, site vice president. “Even though we are recognizing this milestone, each year Entergy invests heavily into our facility to ensure we continue powering people’s lives with clean electricity.”

Economic and Community Contributions:

ANO’s contributions go far beyond electricity. The station employs more than 1,000 full-time workers and hundreds of additional contractors, making it one of the River Valley’s top employers. These employees, supported by an annual payroll of about $84 million, play an integral role in the region’s economy.

ANO also generates significant economic benefits during refueling and maintenance outages, bringing an influx of approximately 1,000 additional workers to the area and boosting local businesses such as hotels, restaurants and gas stations. With roughly $12 million annually spent on materials, services and fuel sourced from more than 175 Arkansas companies, the plant’s financial impact is extensive. In fact, ANO contributes over $190 million annually to Arkansas’s Gross State Product as well as generating over $21 million annually in state and local tax revenues.

Environmental Leadership:

As a nuclear facility, ANO provides clean power, helping reduce the carbon footprint in Arkansas. By preventing the release of greenhouse gases and air pollutants associated with fossil fuel generation, the plant plays a critical role in improving air quality and providing 76% of the clean energy produced in the state.

Commitment to the Community:

ANO employees are dedicated members of the community, donating their time, talents and financial resources to make a difference in the River Valley. Each year, grants totaling more than $100,000 are awarded to local nonprofits and ANO employees partner with Entergy to contribute more than $230,000 to the River Valley United Way. Volunteerism is also a cornerstone of ANO’s culture, with employees supporting programs such as Summer Food for Kids, the Angel Tree program and numerous Arkansas Nuclear One (ANO), the state’s only operational nuclear power plant, proudly celebrates 50 years of commercial operation this December. Since Unit 1 began generating reliable electricity in 1974, ANO team members have delivered safe, clean and reliable energy to Arkansas, powering communities and businesses while making a positive environmental and economic impact in the Arkansas River Valley.educational initiatives with local students and schools.

About Entergy Arkansas

Entergy Arkansas, LLC provides electricity to approximately 730,000 customers in 63 counties. Entergy Arkansas is a subsidiary of ���ϳԹ���, a Fortune 500 electric company. Entergy powers life for 3 million customers through our operating companies in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. We’re investing in the reliability and resilience of the energy system while helping our region transition to cleaner, more efficient energy solutions. With roots in our communities for more than 100 years, Entergy is a nationally recognized leader in sustainability and corporate citizenship. Since 2018, we have delivered more than $100 million in economic benefits each year to local communities through philanthropy, volunteerism and advocacy. Entergy is headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, and has approximately 12,000 employees. For the latest news from Entergy Arkansas, visit the  and connect with @EntergyArk on social media.

About Arkansas Nuclear One

Arkansas Nuclear One, located in Russellville, Arkansas, is owned and operated by Entergy Arkansas, a subsidiary of ���ϳԹ���. The site includes two pressurized water reactors with a combined capacity of more than 1,800 megawatts. For 50 years, ANO has been a leader in providing safe, emission-free energy and serving as a pillar of the Arkansas River Valley community. For the latest news from Entergy Nuclear visit the Newsroom and connect with @EntergyNuclear on social media.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – If it weren’t for construction of Remmel and Carpenter dams a century ago, some of the state’s greatest recreation areas may not exist. As Remmel Dam marks its 100^th anniversary, community and company leaders gathered at Lake Catherine to celebrate the decades of reliable, clean energy the dam provides.

Constructed and first brought online by Arkansas Power and Light Company in 1924, Remmel Dam is located on the Ouachita River near Jones Mills in Hot Spring County. Together with Carpenter Dam in Hot Springs, they provide hydroelectric power for the natural state and form lakes Catherine and Hamilton

”Remmel Dam is an essential part of Entergy Arkansas’ diverse fuel mix portfolio,” said William Cunningham, director of resource planning for Entergy Arkansas. “Harnessing the hydroelectric power enhances our clean energy offerings and positions us well for future power generation needs.”

Senior leadership from Entergy Arkansas, Entergy Power Generation, family members of AP&L founder Harvey Couch and current employees working at Remmel Dam gathered with state and local officials and members of the community to celebrate the dam’s centennial anniversary this morning at the dam site in Malvern. Festivities included a dedication recognizing Remmel Dam’s place in Arkansas and Entergy history, guided tours of the dam site and a pop-up museum of artifacts, information and photos.

Tours of Remmel Dam will be given to Entergy Arkansas employees and retirees throughout this week, and area schools have scheduled tours the last week in April. The dam will be open to the public for guided tours June 10-13. Visitors should wear closed toed shoes if they are interested in visiting the dam up close.

Couch founded AP&L in 1913. Three years later, he was approached by Flave Carpenter about building dams on the Ouachita River to harness hydroelectric power.

Remmel Dam was one of the first major sources of power generation for AP&L. It was the third generation site built by Harvey Couch and the only one still operating today, with many original parts, in service for Entergy. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. The lake and surrounding area created by Remmel Dam has been a great source of tourism and economic development for the state.

Remmel Dam is named after Colonel Harmon L. Remmel, a friend of Harvey Couch who helped facilitate meetings in Washington D.C. for Couch to obtain licensing and permission to build the dam. Construction on the dam began in May 1923 and was completed in December 1924 at a total cost of $2,142,000.

“The benefits that Remmel Dam has brought to the Malvern and Hot Springs area are numerous,” said Kimberly Bogart, lakes manager for Carpenter and Remmel Dams. “The dams were originally intended to help bring reliable low-cost electrical power to the state, but now also serve multiple purposes including fisheries and especially recreation/tourism. Hot Springs is the number one tourist destination in the state of Arkansas and one of the major draws is the area lakes, which all started with Remmel Dam and Lake Catherine.

Today, power from Remmel Dam services not only Entergy Arkansas, but is also interconnected to the Entergy power grid. Entergy Arkansas plans to continue maximizing the dam’s ability to provide safe and reliable hydroelectric power to the state of Arkansas for the next century.

“With one hundred years in service, the dam boasts a legacy of rich history and community partnership,” said Bogart. We are looking forward to building on this legacy and continuing to be a valued resource for Entergy Arkansas and the state for years to come.”

About Entergy Arkansas

Entergy Arkansas, LLC provides electricity to approximately 730,000 customers in 63 counties. Entergy Arkansas is a subsidiary of ���ϳԹ���, a Fortune 500 electric company. Entergy powers life for 3 million customers through our operating companies in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. We’re investing in the reliability and resilience of the energy system while helping our region transition to cleaner, more efficient energy solutions. With roots in our communities for more than 100 years, Entergy is a nationally recognized leader in sustainability and corporate citizenship. Since 2018, we have delivered more than $100 million in economic benefits each year to local communities through philanthropy, volunteerism and advocacy. Entergy is headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, and has approximately 12,000 employees. For the latest news from Entergy Arkansas, visit the and connect with @EntergyArk on social media.

“We created the total electric concept to position electricity as a safe, efficient and cost-effective choice for modern homes,” said Johnny Ervin, who began his career in marketing and customer service at MP&L in the 1970s. “When houses were total electric, we installed a meter on them with a gold lining in the meter container. A lot of people wanted their gold meter.”

The campaign’s success resulted in the coveted Total Electric Gold Medallion home award, first presented in 1958 to Jackson-based home builder Walter Ferguson. Associating electricity with modernity was a smart idea that paved the way to today’s smart home technologies that use WiFi-connected devices to optimize energy savings.

Introducing energy efficiency

Until the mid-20th century, electricity was mainly used for lighting. But that began to change as the means of producing, distributing and consuming electricity grew more efficient. With new electric appliances on the market, electricity became a direct competitor with natural gas, which had cornered the energy market for heating.

In Mississippi, energy usage peaks in the summer as air conditioners kick into high gear. After divesting its natural gas properties in 1952, MP&L led a series of campaigns to promote the benefits of electricity and grow energy consumption during off-peak months, which accounted for two-thirds of the year.

“We were trying to increase our wintertime load because we had lots of plants that weren’t running, and we had the transmission distribution capacity to serve our customers,” Ervin says. “Electric resistance heating is an inefficient way to heat homes, generally because it uses a lot more electricity. Back then, new heat pumps used half as much, and summertime air conditioning used about the same.”

As electricity use rose, the cost to produce it fell, creating additional revenue for investors and a cost savings MP&L could pass to its customers.

MP&L’s program to promote efficient energy consumption proved prophetic in two major ways. First, during the 1970s, energy costs surged as an oil embargo gripped the developed world. And the following decade, the concept of conserving energy on a mass scale arrived.

The company’s marketing department stayed ahead of the game with the E3 initiative, or ���ϳԹ��� Efficient Electric, which consolidated efforts to encourage the use of electric appliances and increase efficiency of homes by helping homebuilders and future homeowners during construction design stages.

The primary goal for an E3 home was to keep the loss of BTUs (British thermal units) under a certain threshold.

Keeping more of the heat generated by electric devices inside homes became a major industry focus. MP&L devised new construction specifications to replace the typically drafty, minimally insulated houses common during the era with homes that held consistent temperature in summer and winter. Construction upgrades of added wall, ceiling and floor insulation, and insulated glass for windows improved comfort levels while reducing peak power consumption.

Making the design even more attractive was a new technique that enabled customers to harness the power of the sun passively through windows and flooring by reducing east/west windows while increasing window area on the southern wall to capture the natural warming of the sun during the winter.

An outreach campaign to promote the new specifications among homebuilders was a success, and local home plan designers began bringing the concepts to life with attractive stock plans maximizing the energy efficiency, comfort and appeal.

Making the switch to electric appliances

MP&L also made it easy and affordable for customers to switch from gas to electric appliances. When aging gas water heaters reached the end of their usefulness, MP&L offered to replace them with more efficient electric models for as low as $2 per month to cover appliance and installation costs.

In the following decades as environmental concerns about fossil fuels mounted, the need for energy efficiency and sustainability grew exponentially, with Entergy taking the lead. In 2001, Entergy became the first U.S. utility to voluntarily stabilize its carbon dioxide emissions.

Entergy also continued offering new programs to help customers increase energy efficiency and save money, including and cashback incentives for investing in ENERGY STAR-certified products.

WiFi-enabled technologies such as the help customers increase overall home energy efficiency by shaving usage and saving kilowatts. It echoes efforts the company pioneered in the 1980s and 90s when it deployed mechanisms to residential air conditioners and used a paging network to signal when to shut off a unit, usually for 10 or 15 minutes at a time. 

“Entergy has always leveraged the power of technology to balance customers’ needs with the needs and requirements of the electric grid,” said Tison Reno, ���ϳԹ��� Mississippi’s manager of product and services deployment. “There’s a lot of other technologies coming online, such as electric vehicles and backup generation that can be dispatched and run on the grid to help meet supply and demand. Technology changes quickly, and our responsibility is to stay ahead to bring its value to our customers.”

The following is an excerpt from the utility spotlight feature on Entergy in the May 2023 issue of , written by Sonal Patel:

Echoing the geneses of most utilities in the U.S., Entergy’s founding began with ambition. On Nov. 13, 1913, a 36-year-old entrepreneur, Harvey Couch, established Arkansas Power and Light (AP&L) with a vision to build an interconnected utility network that could bring affordable and reliable power to the Middle South. In sharp contrast with the founders of other utility giants, however, Couch’s intent was shaped by extraordinarily humble beginnings. “It’s a classic Horatio Alger story that sounds too good to be true: poorly educated farm-boy-turned-mail-clerk strikes out to start an innovative company in a fledgling industry and ends up becoming one of the most influential men of his time,” notes corporate historian Heidi Tyline King in the 2013-published commemorative history book We Power Life: Entergy’s First Century. But “that’s exactly what Harvey Couch did,” she writes.

Couch’s beginnings were bleak. One of six children, he grew up working on a 130-acre farm in Calhoun, Arkansas, a rural town stricken by severe poverty, subsisting on what his family raised, and attending school only long enough to learn the basics of reading and writing. At age 17, when the farm failed, his family moved to Magnolia, Arkansas, and though Couch briefly re-enrolled in school, he quit for good to support his family through a series of odd jobs.

But Couch’s ambitions, driven by curiosity, began to take seed when he saw construction workers raising poles for telephone wires. At age 27, armed with a “slow-talking style” and a reputation for honesty and hard work, he used savings of $156 to sell coupon books to customers for telephone service, King writes. Using mules and a crew, he established a telephone connection between Bienville and McNeil, Arkansas. Seven years later, that enterprise had expanded into 1,500 miles. In 1911, he sold it to Southwestern Bell for more than $1 million in profit. He then invested the earnings in two failed electric power franchises with intent to establish an interconnected utility network. Under his newly founded venture, Arkansas Power and Light Co., his first deal was to purchase steam from a sawdust-powered boiler from Arkansas Land and Lumber Co., a lumber yard owned by H. H. Foster.

A key component in lowering carbon emissions is to gradually increase the number of vehicles on our roadways that operate on more environmentally friendly energy instead of fossil fuels. 

Sales of electric vehicles  have risen steadily over the past decade, both globally and in the U.S. While less than 1% of America’s 250 million cars and trucks today are EVs, by 2050 half of the passenger vehicles in operation on our roadways could be electric. And here in Mississippi, Nissan Canton is investing $500 million to convert a portion of its manufacturing lines to build two EVs models by 2025.  

None of this progress is possible without a consistent, reliable source of energy. 

In December 2013, Entergy Mississippi took steps to secure that reliable energy by joining Midcontinent Independent System Operator, or MISO, an independent, non-profit organization focused on managing the flow of high-voltage electricity across 15 U.S. states, from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada. Forty-five million people depend on MISO to oversee and dispatch the correct amount of electricity every minute of every day, reliably, dependably and cost-effectively.

“MISO is a competitive market where the most efficient resources get dispatched to serve the power load,” says Landon Eskew, operations planning manager at Entergy Mississippi. “That provides a lot of benefits to our customers.”

Balancing the grid for reliability, savings

Across four states—Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana—Entergy has the capacity to produce 24,000 megawatts every year. That power is absorbed into the MISO grid, where the balance of energy production and usage is a constant exercise. Keeping them in the proper balance brings stability to its member organizations, like Entergy Mississippi, and, by extension, their customers .

MISO accesses local grids and moves energy around based on need—they liken it to the role of air traffic controllers, who manage aircraft traffic in a similar way. MISO’s operators ensure energy predictability by staying 36 hours ahead of projected needs. By Entergy’s estimates, their membership in MISO has resulted in $284 million in economic benefit to the company and its customers.

As the availability of renewable energy sources becomes more important to industrial and consumer clients, Entergy Mississippi customers are using electricity generated from a number of sources—including renewables—due to MISO.

After energy rates and reliability, sustainable and renewable power generation rounds out the top three energy concerns from customers. In 2022, the power MISO members generated consisted of one-third renewable energy from wind, nuclear, hydroelectric and solar sources.

“We have more and more customers asking for fuel diversity, renewable generation and sustainability,” Eskew says. “As we continue to expand our own solar generation in Mississippi, our customers are also benefitting from renewable generation across MISO including fast growing solar capacity and wind generation in MISO North.”

Planning for future electricity needs

While MISO facilitates one of the world’s largest energy markets, with more than $40 billion in annual transactions, it also plays a major role in planning the power grid of the future through its members. Large consumers of electricity add to the average power load, which benefits all customers.

“Especially if we’re talking about large, sophisticated industrial customers, one of the top things they’re looking for is affordable rates,” Eskew says. “The energy markets we participate in have great transparency, and they’re able to see the market prices in real time. They can follow and have visibility of market dynamics that ultimately impact electricity prices.”

For individuals, households and businesses of all sizes, the overriding concern is to do all this without causing energy rates to rise.

“Ultimately,” Eskew adds, “the benefits we get from being in a competitive energy market, and the lower prices, are reflected in lower rates for customers.”

Though Mark Twain may have had a point, Entergy Mississippi knows for a fact that engineering skill is essential in mitigating the impacts of a renegade river. That was made clear during the historic Mississippi River flood of 2011 when an engineering-led team took action to improve public safety, protect electrical infrastructure, prevent widespread outages and develop the company’s first large-scale flood response plan.

That year, a combination of snowmelt and heavy rains caused the Mississippi River to reach levels not seen since the Great Flood of 1927. As rising waters surged toward Entergy’s service area in late April, there was time for residents in the projected flood zone to prepare for evacuations and other protective measures—but not much. 

“The flood was like a slow-moving storm or hurricane, in the sense that we could track it,” said Mississippi Grid Senior Manager John Stevens, who at the time was a transmission line engineer. “The challenge was looking ahead to figure out what things we needed to focus on prior to the crest. Today, Entergy has a flood plan that addresses events of that scale because of the work done in 2011.”

As they monitored river forecasts, Stevens and fellow engineers began reviewing prints of substations, transmission lines and other equipment in the impact area to determine if they were under threat based on their elevation levels. They found that most substations would be safe during the projected crest, but transmission lines were another story.

There were potential areas, especially near Greenville and Vicksburg, where required clearances between transmission lines and water would not be maintained, placing them in violation of National Electrical Safety Code standards. In such instances, Entergy would have to de-energize the lines and take steps to ensure public safety. 

Looped design advantageous

Taking lines out of service also required close coordination with system planners to ensure the integrity of the transmission grid. Even though several lines had to be de-energized during the flood event, most customers never lost power because of the looped design of Entergy’s electrical system.

Employees arranged for warning signage and buoys to be placed around transmission lines and worked with law enforcement agencies and the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks to close and guard access points to flooded areas. Entergy also chartered helicopters to conduct aerial line patrols three times each day.  The flights were staffed by a team of Entergy employee volunteers.

In the meantime, employees were on standby to dispatch via boats should members of the public be spotted near transmission line facilities or if floating trees and debris that could damage transmission structures were identified from the aerial line patrols. They also advised recreational boaters to stay clear of electrical equipment. 

“It was a big challenge to orchestrate, and it took a lot of teamwork to get everything in place,” Stevens said. “Our biggest concern was public safety. In some places, a boater could get within 5 feet of a conductor, and if they had a fishing pole, they could likely touch a conductor. We were responsible for de-energizing lines and keeping people away so that nobody got hurt. In the end, there were no public safety events reported.”

Another point of concern was the substation near Baxter Wilson generating plant in Vicksburg, which at the time served as one of the feeds for Grand Gulf Nuclear Station. Although it was deemed safe based on elevation and river gauge calculations, substation engineers decided to take precautions by securing the control house to prevent water from entering.

“The water never made it that high, but it was close,” Stevens said. “Had it gotten in the control house, it could have potentially impacted Grand Gulf, so we were doing everything we could to protect it. We also surveyed outlet drains around the station to see if water could come through them and create backflow into the control house. A lot of things came up that we’d never thought about before and that we were figuring out as we went.”

Entergy lends helping hand

Entergy also worked closely with other power providers to manage grid safety and minimize or prevent service interruptions. When conditions made it necessary to de-energize a substation serving Yazoo Valley Electric Power Association, Entergy Mississippi installed a mobile transformer that allowed Yazoo Valley to continue providing electricity to customers not located in flood zones.

Throughout the flood event, engineers surveyed equipment elevations to gain more insights into electrical system impacts. After the river crested at 57.1 feet in Vicksburg on May 19, they continued monitoring conditions as floodwaters receded until normal operating conditions could be restored safely. 

In the following weeks and months, employees conducted an extensive analysis of Entergy’s flood response efforts and developed a detailed, comprehensive response plan that continues to be revised and improved. 

Engineers also redesigned flood-prone portions of Entergy’s transmission system. The following year, crews began installing taller poles, which moved conductors higher in the air, and raising transmission lines 15 feet or more. Using highly precise LIDAR technology, employees can measure the elevations of lines and conductors to ensure required clearances and know when protective measures are necessary.

Their efforts are part of a company-wide focus on improving grid resilience and upgrading infrastructure to meet new storm-hardening standards—investments that will reduce power outage durations after major weather events, which have been increasing in frequency and severity in recent decades.

“Seeing so much water just inches from the top of a levee was something I’ll never forget and may never see again in my lifetime,” Stevens said. “The Mississippi River flood of 2011 was a major learning experience that ultimately made us a stronger company. If something like that happens again, we will be better prepared to respond quickly and work with partnering agencies to keep customers and communities safe.”

By marketing and selling household appliances, he also made sure customers had plenty of uses for the company’s product as sales boomed for refrigerators, ranges, water heaters, radios, toasters, fans and curlers.

In less than a decade, Couch’s strategy of buying municipal utilities and building transmission lines to connect them helped broaden the company’s footprint from Tunica to McComb. In 1926, he sold the Columbus utility and focused on the western half of the state.

Although Couch died in 1941, the foundation he had established in Mississippi helped position the company to meet the post-World War II surge in electricity demand and the accelerated pace of business and industry expansion.

Post-war growth provides capacity for future

From 1948 to 1975, MP&L built five generating plants fueled primarily by natural gas to provide reliable, affordable electricity for a growing Mississippi: Rex Brown Steam Electric Station in Jackson, Natchez SES, Delta SES in Cleveland, Baxter Wilson SES in Vicksburg, and Gerald Andrus SES in Greenville. Gerald Andrus, the only one of these plants still operating, will be retired in 2027.

“These units were much bigger and could support significant increases in load, which was key in Mississippi’s economic development efforts,” said Darron Case, who retired in 2022 as director of resource planning and market operations. “They made it possible for our communities to attract new industries, and it became a dynamic process as more units were added to match demand in high-growth areas.”

In 1948, the year Rex Brown’s first unit went into operation, 39 new manufacturing plants opened in 32 towns across the service area. The largest was Johns-Manville wallboard plant in Natchez. Other companies included Alexander Smith Carpet in Greenville, Superior Coach in Kosciusko and Marquette Cement in Brandon.

By the close of the 1950s, Natchez SES, Delta SES and three additional units at Rex Brown SES were supplying power to the grid.

The energy scene took off in the 1960s, when the average residential customer increased electricity usage by 80% and the price for electricity fell 35%. In 1963, MP&L announced a seven-year plan to spend $150 million on new electrical power facilities—a sum equal to the company’s expenditures over the previous 40 years. 

When construction began on Baxter Wilson’s second unit in 1968, it was the largest construction project ever undertaken by a Mississippi utility. In 1970, the company’s 45-county service area reported 45 new and expanded industries, an all-time record for one year, and plans were announced to build Gerald Andrus SES.  

Diversifying for continued growth 

Around that time, a deepening global energy crisis began affecting supplies of natural gas, prompting the company to launch a $50 million program to adapt plants to  burn fuel oils efficiently. Gerald Andrus SES was the first plant designed to  use primarily fuel oil and included additional investments to maintain clean air standards and conserve natural resources.

During its 50th anniversary in 1973, the company experienced another growth spurt with the purchase of Capital Electric Power Association, a move that added 17,000 customers over a seven-county area of central Mississippi. 

In 1975, Gerald Andrus SES began operating in Greenville, providing the company with a total generating capability of 2,752,000 kilowatts from five plants and a safe, reliable and economical source of electricity well into the 21st century.

“The electricity generated by our legacy plants was vital in advancing Mississippi’s economy and creating jobs and a better quality of life,” Case said. “Plant employees took pride in safe operations and were always finding ways to give back to their communities. It’s a mindset from the earliest days that came to define Entergy Mississippi as a company, and one that’s still very much alive today.”