What’s a power grid?

A power grid, also referred to as an electrical grid, is a network of generation, transmission and distribution systems that help deliver electricity to homes and businesses. The United States power grid is separated into three regions: the Eastern, Western, and Texas Interconnections. Within each of these three regions, there are interconnected local electricity grids.

Which grid helps power the Entergy Texas service area?

While most Texans are connected to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) power grid, Entergy Texas, along with a few other utilities in Southeast Texas, operates in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (or MISO) power grid. ��MISO is a regional transmission organization that helps provide reliable, cost-effective delivery of electricity to 15 U.S. states and one Canadian province. ��MISO manages the flow of power between and among local grids across this vast region and moves energy around based on need—they liken it to the role of air traffic controllers. Entergy Texas works alongside MISO to maintain a careful balance of electricity demand with available supply from resources located throughout Southeast Texas and beyond. Both MISO and Entergy Texas play important roles in ensuring that the right amount of electricity is generated and transmitted, and that reliability is maintained. ��

What Texas counties are connected to the MISO power grid?

In partnership with MISO, Entergy Texas helps provide reliable, affordable, and sustainable power to 27 counties in the southeastern part of Texas. Those counties are:

How does being connected to the MISO grid benefit customers?��
Entergy Texas customers have saved more than $475 million on electric bills since the company joined MISO in 2013. Because MISO directs the dispatch of a pool of generation to serve the needs of all customers in its footprint, the dispatch is more efficient, resulting in a lower delivered cost of energy and long-term benefits for customers.

For more information on MISO, visit . To learn more about how Entergy Texas is investing to build a stronger, more reliable and resilient grid, visit here.

En otras palabras, en lo que respecta al suministro eléctrico en nuestra área de servicio de 27 condados, no ha habido muchos cortes generalizados. Y eso es lo que queremos: interrupciones mínimas para nuestros clientes, para que tengan una preocupación menos en un momento de amenaza meteorológica. Nuestro operador de red desempeña un papel fundamental para que así sea. Mientras que la mayor parte de Texas se encuentra en el Consejo de Fiabilidad Eléctrica de Texas (ERCOT), Entergy Texas, junto con algunas otras empresas de servicios públicos del sureste de Texas, opera en la red eléctrica del Operador del Sistema Independiente del Midcontinent (MISO). Trabajamos con MISO para mantener un cuidadoso equilibrio entre la demanda de electricidad y la oferta disponible de los recursos ubicados en MISO, que se extiende por una región de 15 estados en el centro de Estados Unidos y la provincia canadiense de Manitoba.

El éxito en nuestro negocio es cuando nuestros clientes nunca tienen que pensar en su electricidad. Que nos den por sentado es el mayor cumplido que podemos recibir. Sin embargo, que no haya noticias requiere mucho trabajo. Requiere la coordinación de miles de personas, en múltiples ubicaciones, trabajando al unísono las 24 horas del día, todo ello para ayudar a minimizar los efectos para las comunidades a las que servimos con orgullo.

Nuestro equipo de control de incidentes empieza a trabajar para prever la mejor ubicación de nuestros recursos, de modo que estén lo más cerca posible de los clientes con más probabilidades de sufrir las condiciones meteorológicas más adversas y los cortes de suministro correspondientes. Nuestros equipos de suministro eléctrico trabajan antes, durante y después de cualquier tormenta, ya sea en el mantenimiento de la vegetación, en la obtención de los equipos adecuados o en la contratación de personal adicional para que esté disponible antes y durante el restablecimiento.

Los empleados de nuestras plantas ejecutan planes prediseñados para acondicionar sus instalaciones para el invierno con el fin de mantener las operaciones durante las épocas de frío extremo, de modo que no se interrumpa el suministro eléctrico. Nuestro grupo de manejo de recursos trabaja con nuestro personal de transmisión para asegurarse de que la energía puede asegurarse fuera de nuestro estado y dirigirse a nuestra área de servicio en Texas para la generación de respaldo durante los picos de demanda, si es necesario.

Nuestra “sala de guerra” se crea para mantener alineados a todos estos equipos, lo que resulta esencial cuando llega el momento de que nuestro personal de comunicaciones transmita información oportuna y útil a nuestros clientes.

Durante un evento, también mantenemos una estrecha coordinación y comunicación con MISO, nuestros reguladores, funcionarios estatales y personal de manejo de emergencias. Y, en el peor de los casos, cuando es necesario interrumpir el suministro, nuestros equipos de operaciones y atención al cliente se coordinan con las autoridades locales para poner en marcha planes que garanticen la continuidad de hospitales, comisarías de policía y bomberos, centros de calentamiento y otras infraestructuras e instalaciones críticas para la comunidad.

Incluso años antes de que se produzca una tormenta, el tiempo y el dinero que nuestra gente invierte responsablemente en construir una red más resistente evitan muchos cortes potenciales antes de que empiecen y acortan la duración de los que se producen. El clima actual es más extremo que nunca y, a veces, ni siquiera nuestra mejor planificación y ejecución pueden competir con la fuerza y la imprevisibilidad de la madre naturaleza. Pero la mayoría de las veces, los empleados de Entergy Texas han soportado algunas de las condiciones más difíciles para mantener a nuestros clientes conectados cuando más lo necesitan.

Estoy muy orgulloso de los hombres y mujeres de nuestra compañía que trabajaron durante un fin de semana festivo y se mantuvieron concentrados en sus tareas críticas durante condiciones extremadamente invernales. Muchos tuvieron que hacer frente a temperaturas bajo cero, mientras mantenían a nuestros clientes calientes y seguros en unas condiciones meteorológicas que ponían en peligro sus vidas. Es posible que no se entere del tremendo esfuerzo que realiza nuestro personal durante todo el año para prepararse para este tipo de tormentas, y no pasa nada. Porque en este caso, no tener noticias no es sólo una buena noticia, es una gran noticia.

From 2006 to 2018, the utility added three plants to its generation lineup: Attala Plant in Sallis, Hinds ���ϳԹ��� Facility in Jackson and Choctaw ���ϳԹ��� Facility in French Camp. By replacing older legacy plants with more advanced combined-cycle natural gas turbine technology, Entergy Mississippi is producing more electricity from the same amount of fuel while significantly reducing carbon emissions.��

In addition to high-efficiency gas units, the Sunflower Solar Station near Ruleville is generating emission-free electricity as part of EDGE, for “,” a program that will add 1,000 megawatts of renewable energy to the grid in the next five years.

“Entergy Mississippi’s plan to modernize its generation capacity is very responsive to changing customer needs and environmental goals,” said Darron Case, who retired in 2022 as director of resource planning and market operations. “Many factors are involved in developing an economical, well-balanced energy mix that positions our communities for growth while reflecting Entergy’s environmental leadership.”

Staying ahead of the curve

The way customers use electricity has changed dramatically over the last century with the proliferation of household appliances, air conditioning and all-electric homes. As demand increased through the decades, Entergy Mississippi stayed ahead of the curve by building cost-effective generation capacity to fuel growth.

In more recent years, the company’s investments in modern combined-cycle turbine technology have provided greater flexibility in meeting our customers’ energy needs using the most economical generation sources available.

As Entergy Mississippi’s “base load” power source, Grand Gulf Nuclear Station generates safe, low-cost, emission-free electricity to meet customers’ baseline needs. When usage rises in the morning and builds throughout the day, the utility’s combined-cycle gas units generate the electricity required to match increases and peaks in demand.

“Older gas-fired plants were very reliable but could take several days to start up and get to full speed,” explained Case. “New combined-cycle units can start quickly and get up to 100% power fast, allowing their generation capacity to be available precisely when needed to serve the needs of residential, business and industrial customers.”

Buying versus building produces savings for customers

Entergy Mississippi acquired Attala Plant in 2006, in 2012 and in 2019. The company purchased them for amounts that were far less than the cost of building comparable facilities, which passes along savings to customers while eliminating construction time and the risks associated with building new plants.

Entergy also has taken other steps to prepare for the future. In 2012, Grand Gulf Nuclear Station completed a power upgrade that significantly increased its output of carbon-free, low-cost electricity, and the plant’s safe record helped earn regulatory approval to extend its operating license through 2044.

In 2013, Entergy joined the Midwest Independent System Operator, a regional transmission organization. In the first five years, the company’s membership saved Mississippi customers approximately on electric bills, along with other benefits.

“Many factors are involved in making sure that when a customer flips a switch, electricity is there,” Case said. “Entergy Mississippi employees have built an excellent performance record by operating plants safely and efficiently, and making sure customers always have access to a reliable supply of power. And with sustainability as a focal point, they’re improving environmental performance to benefit current and future generations.”

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.”

JACKSON, Miss. – It was the end of an era the morning of Thursday, July 28. That’s when Entergy Mississippi imploded the remainder of the Rex Brown Steam Electric Station, a natural gas-fired plant that served the company’s customers for 71 years.

The controlled implosion was the final stage of the demolition of the generating facility, named for a former Mississippi Power & Light Company president. Entergy retired the plant in 2019 as part of a process to modernize its generating portfolio. In an effort to be a good corporate citizen, the company is removing all traces of the decommissioned plant. Crews have been removing chemicals and equipment, disconnecting power sources and dismantling outlying structures from its prominent site on Jackson’s Northside Drive.

At peak capacity, the Rex Brown plant could generate 676,000 kilowatts of electricity.

“Rex Brown played a crucial role in Entergy being able to meet its obligation to provide safe, reliable and affordable energy to our customers,” said Haley Fisackerly, Entergy Mississippi president and CEO. “But as newer, cleaner technologies emerged and the plant neared the end of its useful life, it was time to retire Rex Brown and focus on modernizing our grid to make it even more reliable and resilient for customers now and in the future.”

The land that the plant sat on is Entergy-owned property and will be held by the company for future use. The land that the cooling pond is on is 16^th section property owned by Jackson Public Schools. Entergy leased the property and will return it to JPS in its original state, per JPS’ request.

Entergy Mississippi has been in operation for nearly 100 years. During that time, the company has owned and operated many natural gas-fired generating plants, as well as Grand Gulf Nuclear Station. As the older plants, such as Rex Brown, reached the end of their natural lives the company has taken steps to replace their generating capacity:

• . In May, construction was complete on a 100-megawatt renewable solar power station in the Mississippi Delta. It will provide clean energy to Entergy Mississippi’s 461,000 customers.
• . “Economic Development with Green ���ϳԹ���” is a program announced last year that will replace some aging natural gas plants with 1,000 megawatts of renewable energy, such as solar, over the next five years. The program’s strategy is two-fold: give Mississippi an edge in recruiting industry while also giving Entergy customers a hedge against volatile natural gas prices. It will be the largest expansion of renewable power in state history.
• . Entergy purchased this clean, modern 810-megawatt combined-cycle natural gas turbine unit in 2019.
• . Entergy joined the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, a regional transmission organization, in 2013. MISO operates sophisticated markets for the purchase and sale of electricity, and membership has resulted in tens of millions of dollars in savings to Entergy Mississippi customers to date as well as increased reliability.
• Grand Gulf Nuclear Station. In 2012, Entergy upgraded its nuclear plant to increase its output of power to more than 1,440 megawatts and purchased additional output from Entergy Arkansas. The company also won approval to extend the license to operate the plant through 2044.
• . Entergy purchased this clean, modern 450-megawatt combined-cycle natural gas turbine unit in 2012.

About Entergy Mississippi

Entergy Mississippi, LLC provides electricity to approximately 461,000 customers in 45 counties. Entergy Mississippi is a subsidiary of ���ϳԹ���, an integrated energy company engaged in electric power production, transmission and retail distribution operations. Entergy delivers electricity to 3 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy owns and operates one of the cleanest large-scale U.S. power generating fleets with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, including 7,000 megawatts of nuclear power. Headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, Entergy has annual revenues of $10 billion and approximately 12,500 employees.

Additionally, MISO has notified utilities to follow procedures for emergency conditions. At this time, however, MISO has not indicated a power shortage will occur.

Entergy’s power plants and transmission operators are taking steps to help ensure sufficient power will be available for its customers. These include taking action to reduce risk of tripping generating stations offline and proactively guarding employees against the effects of the heat by using hydration and frequent cooling breaks.

These are extreme conditions creating potentially high demand for electricity over the next few days. Customers can help by only using appliances in their homes if necessary including:

• Using a microwave oven to cook or use an outside grill. Avoid using the stove or oven.
• Launder clothes and wash dishes in the early morning or late evening or set your timer to have them run overnight. Turn off the heat dry setting on your dishwasher.

Customers should stay safe as well. Several online resources are available to help you stay safe during hot weather. More information on recognizing and preventing these conditions are available from the .

• Drink plenty of fluids even if you don’t feel thirsty.
• Schedule outdoor activities carefully.
• Wear loose, lightweight, light-colored clothing and sunscreen.
• Pace yourself.
• Take cool showers or baths to cool down.
• Check on a friend or neighbor and have someone do the same for you.
• Never leave children or pets in cars.
• Check the local news for health and safety updates.

Entergy has been a member of MISO, one of the nation’s largest regional transmission organizations, since December 2013. MISO is a not-for-profit member-based organization that ensures reliable, cost-effective delivery of electricity across all or parts of 15 U.S. states and one Canadian province. In cooperation with stakeholders, MISO manages approximately 65,000 miles of high-voltage transmission and 200,000 megawatts of power-generating resources across its footprint.

NEW ORLEANS – Entergy has initiated additional power outages for its customers across its four-state service area. The company is taking this action as directed by our reliability coordinator, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, as a last resort and in order to prevent more extensive, prolonged power outages that could severely affect the reliability of the power grid. The directive includes all of MISO’s south region, spanning from Arkansas to Texas to the Gulf South.

Due to extremely cold temperatures over the last several days, the demand for electricity has reached an all-time high. Additionally, these weather conditions have forced off generation resources across the system.��The implementation of this load shed across the Entergy region will help ensure an adequate reserve margin, which helps ensure Entergy is better positioned to manage through additional extreme weather this week.

“Broadening the geographic area in which outages will occur, allows us to better manage the way in which we shed load.” said Willie Wilson, vice president in operations and system storm incident commander, Entergy. “We know this is an inconvenience and we apologize. The loss of generation in the entire region, combined with a high level of demand for electricity has caused a strain on the system.”

Entergy will work to limit the duration of each outage, but due to significant demand on the system and generation outages, options may be limited.

MISO is directing actions to be taken to restore the system to normal operations as quickly as possible and will direct Entergy to stop these outages as soon as the power shortfall no longer threatens the integrity of the rest of the electrical power system.

If customers decide to use a portable generator,�� and DO NOT run it in an enclosed space. If connecting to the whole house, do so only if the connection has been installed by a licensed electrician to prevent back feed on to the distribution system.

We continuously keep our communities informed throughout a storm. Customers are encouraged to download our free app for their smartphone at��entergy.com/app and sign up for��. Customers can also stay up to date by visiting the����website. Follow us on�� and or check for updates with your local news media like radio, television and newspapers.

MISO comprises a pool of electricity generators and users that stretches from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, and as reliability coordinator is responsible for monitoring the portion of the electric grid it oversees and providing instructions to its members regarding actions needed to maintain reliability in that portion of the grid. In extreme and unusual circumstances, such actions may include these types outages occurring today.

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entergy.com

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Thank you very much for your patience and your voluntary conservation of power as we work through this difficult situation. The company took this action at the direction of our reliability coordinator, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, as a last resort to prevent a more extensive, prolonged power outage that could severely affect the reliability of the power grid. All Entergy operating companies participated in the outages, as well as all other MISO members.��

We continue to face challenges related to the cold temperatures, so please be mindful of your electricity usage to help prevent the need for any additional forced outages. We’re not out of the woods yet, so please continue to conserve energy.

THE WOODLANDS – Entergy’s reliability coordinator, MISO, has cancelled its order for power outages in the Entergy Texas region. Shortly, after this, Entergy Texas began restoring customers who were affected by these outages back to service. However, winter weather in the forecast could cause additional outages over the next few days.��

“We know how challenging these past couple of days have been for our customers and communities,” said Sallie Rainer, Entergy Texas president and CEO. “Our crews have made incredible progress to return several of our power plants to service which allows us to meet customer demand at this time.�� However, we are closely watching and preparing for additional winter weather tonight that will impact our service area.”

MISO, Entergy’s reliability coordinator, directed the company early Monday morning to initiate power outages as a last resort and in order to prevent a more extensive, prolonged power outage that could severely affect the reliability of the power grid. Since then, the company was able to bring generating units impacted by the severe weather back online and was cleared by MISO to begin fully serving the record-breaking load across southeast Texas.

The company continues to work to add customers back, but faces challenges restoring power quickly due . Crews are currently working to restore customers affected by the load shed. ��This part of our restoration process could take many hours to complete.�� Additionally, some equipment may have been damaged due to the cold weather and the amount of load being consumed. If customers are still without power, but their neighbors have power, they can call 1-800-ENTERGY to report an outage.��

“While we have come a long way since Monday morning, we are not out of the woods just yet,” said Rainer. “We have taken additional steps to prepare and protect our assets for the extreme cold beyond the measures implemented in advance of the winter storm earlier this week, in addition to returning power generation to service. Customers can help by continuing to conserve energy in the coming days.”

While Entergy Texas has been cleared to returned to normal operations, weather conditions still pose challenges in the coming days. These record-breaking temperatures can drive increased electricity usage which can increase demand on the system and impact infrastructure. Customers can follow these easy steps to help reduce consumption and lower usage:

• Heating can account for as much as 55% of your monthly electric bill. Setting the thermostat to 68 degrees in the winter is an easy way to reduce how much energy you use. Every degree above 68 on the thermostat can increase your bill by about 3%.
• Conserve hot water. Wrap your electric water heater with a water heater blanket that can be found at local home improvement stores and set the thermostat to 120 degrees or medium.
• Keep all doors and windows closed. Constant traffic will let out the warm air, forcing your heater to work harder to keep the room at the set temperature.
• Ensure fans are turning the right way. Fans should be run at a low speed clockwise during the winter. This helps keep the cold air from blowing down on you.
• Keep the air circulating. Don’t block heat registers or air returns with curtains or furniture.
• Leverage the sun. During the day, open your curtains and blinds to let in the warm sunlight. Close them at night to reduce heat loss.

About MISO

MISO comprises a pool of electricity generators and users that stretches from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, and as reliability coordinator is responsible for monitoring the portion of the electric grid it oversees and providing instructions to its members regarding actions needed to maintain reliability in that portion of the grid. In extreme and unusual circumstances, such actions may include periodic outages of the type occurring today.

About Entergy Texas

Entergy Texas, Inc. provides electricity to approximately 461,000 customers in 27 counties. ���ϳԹ��� (NYSE: ETR) 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 8,000 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 13,600 employees.

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On a residential bill, unless itemized as a separate line item through customer preference, the MISO credit savings are reflected in the energy charge line item. Following approval by the Arkansas Public Service Commission, an average residential customer using 1,000 kWh per month will see a 25 percent increase in the MISO credit. This will lower their bill an additional $1.11, bringing the total MISO credit to $5.55 a month.��

Over the past few years, Entergy Arkansas has made significant investments in generation, transmission and distribution upgrades that have helped lower fuel and energy rates for customers. From 2014 to 2019, MISO membership saved Entergy Arkansas customers approximately $298 million.

“Joining MISO in 2013 was a very good decision for our customers in Arkansas, as well customers throughout the Entergy system,” said Kurt Castleberry, director of resource planning for Entergy Arkansas. “Entergy’s membership in MISO has saved Entergy customers in all five operating companies about $1.5 billion over six years.”

MISO is an independent, not-for-profit organization that delivers electric power across 15 U.S. states and the Canadian province of Manitoba. MISO operates one of the world’s largest energy markets with more than $29 billion in annual gross market energy transactions.

Since Entergy joined MISO in December 2013, MISO has guided the dispatch of power from Entergy’s generating facilities and had a hand in planning Entergy’s transmission expansion and improvements. In addition, MISO operates markets for the purchase and sale of wholesale energy and other products.

The estimated savings realized is largely because power plants are dispatched more efficiently on the transmission grid, resulting in a lower cost of delivered energy. Significant savings also arise from MISO members sharing generation reserves across the organization’s footprint, producing long-term benefits for customers.

“Our membership in MISO has been a highly effective tool in helping us control costs and keep our rates among the lowest in the nation,” Castleberry said.

ABOUT ENTERGY ARKANSAS

Entergy Arkansas provides electricity to approximately 715,000 customers in 63 counties. Entergy Arkansas is a subsidiary of ���ϳԹ��� (NYSE: ETR), an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. ���ϳԹ��� (NYSE: ETR) 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 8,000 megawatts of nuclear power. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.9 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of $11 billion and approximately 13,600 employees.