At the top of 2023, Entergy Mississippi set a big goal for itself. With April marking 100 years since the utility began serving the state, ‘the power of 100’ became the backdrop for its volunteerism and community-centered efforts. The company kicked off the centennial celebration by partnering with local organizations to provide nutritional meals to families in need, and energy efficiency kits to help customers lower their power usage and bills.

A year later, employees proudly exceeded their goal of providing 100,000 meals to families across its service area, in partnership with Extra Table. Volunteers eagerly bagged red beans and rice meals at two significant events for both and the non-profit organization; collected non-perishable items and supplies for customers who were impacted by the devastating March tornadoes in the Mississippi Delta; and gathered nearly 500 jars of peanut butter to stock food pantries across the state.

‘The power of 100’ also touched communities across Mississippi with the help of Boss Lady Workforce Development Inc. New Horizon Ministries, Southwest Mississippi Opportunity, Mississippi Food Network, Gateway Rescue Mission, Stewpot Community Services, and We Will Go. Employees worked alongside these community action agencies to serve more than 3,150 meals.

“We believe in taking care of our customers and the communities we serve – where our employees also live and work. We must give back to our neighbors, in order to power Mississippi for generations to come,” said Haley Fisackerly, president and CEO of Entergy Mississippi.

In 2023, Entergy Mississippi employees dedicated 18,792 hours at 120 volunteer events within communities across the service area – surpassing the previous year’s record by more than 800 hours. The amount of time serving in the communities equates to $597,596 of hours on the clock.

With 2023 being the , the company was able to provide customers who would be using more power to keep cool, tools to help lower their energy bills. Entergy Mississippi distributed more than 25,000 energy efficiency throughout the centennial. These free kits include easy-to-install money-saving products; and combined with online savings tools, can save up to $300 annually on energy bills.

“I can’t thank our employees enough for the enthusiasm they have for volunteering,” said Valarie Mabry, public affairs analyst. Mabry manages Entergy Mississippi’s volunteerism efforts. “Our 100th anniversary will be remembered as a remarkable year for the company because of the collaborative spirit our employees brought to the organizations in which we partnered. That attitude is what made all of this possible!”

But it took a long time to get that way.

Living in one of the most rural states in the U.S., Mississippi residents received electricity in waves: ��first in cities, then in the outlying areas. The revenue model dictated that utilities build where they could serve the most customers, leaving some rural areas in the dark. Power companies had little incentive to extend their infrastructure miles and miles beyond existing transmission lines, only to serve one or even a handful of customers.

After the creation of the Rural Electrification Administration by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935, people living in rural regions could establish member-owned, cooperative electric power associations. The agency lent money at low interest rates to the cooperatives so that they could build electric infrastructure; these loans were paid back using revenues the co-ops generated from providing electricity to their members.�� As cooperatives, the EPA’s avoided many of the taxes paid by the investor-owned utilities.����

Mississippi Power & Light, an early iteration of what became known as Entergy Mississippi, provided much of the electricity to western Mississippi towns and cities and to some rural areas. As an investor-owned utility, MP&L was invested in delivering power while also generating a reasonable return for their investors. Their competitor in the west central market was Capital Electric Power Association (CEPA).��

Early power grid sparked by competition

Without the state regulation that exists in the power business today, the electrical grid in Mississippi looked markedly different than it does now. In some areas, excessive distribution lines from both utilities ran along utility poles, cluttering the skyline as they competed for customers.��

Investor-owned utilities like MP&L and member-owned utilities like CEPA weren’t friends—they were competitors. The entities were in constant legal negotiations over territory. But MP&L had an advantage.

“We took the effort to go out there and build circuits,” says Donald Meiners, a longtime MP&L executive who retired as president of Entergy Mississippi in 1999. “Of course, we wanted to serve more people, because serving a few customers wasn’t nearly as efficient as it needed to be to support what you invested in building. It was sort of a free-for-all racing to gain territory at that time.”

CEPA began to experience growing pains after a period of heavy growth in areas like Jackson, Clinton and Vicksburg. They had spread their resources too thin across their seven-county footprint, and the situation was causing financial and operational challenges. By the 1960s, it was clear they were about to have a major rate increase while MP&L rates were stable.�� Some members were not happy with service issues.����

“Capital Electric was a rural utility that was suddenly finding itself in an urban environment where things were growing,” Meiners says. “The residences and businesses were bigger, and there were more industrial customers, as well.”

MP&L acquires CEPA

During a plane ride shortly after Meiners was appointed director of division operations at MP&L, Donald Lutken, who was then president of the company, turned to Meiners. He saw an opportunity to acquire CEPA, and he wanted him to arrange the purchase. That curt directive led to the creation of a three-person committee whose sole objective was to negotiate with the CEPA board and plan the eventual integration of the companies.

Along with George Wynn, director of economic development, and Alex Rogers, senior vice president of finance, Meiners immediately went to work on the deal. But absorbing a highly decentralized, rural utility into a more agile, urbanized outfit wouldn’t be easy. The two types of utility models were at such philosophical odds, the purchase of a large co-op by another utility had never been done before—or since.��

“Buying an electric power association was a new kind of challenge,” Meiners says. “The EPAs are member owned and must vote whether or not to sell. For a deal this significant, both parties had to see some advantages. We provided enough printed copies of the purchase contract for the CEPA board to mail to every member.”

One immediate advantage to CEPA was the improving service and maintenance to the 17,000 customers spread across their footprint. MP&L had a robust team of linemen in the region, all ready to handle new customers and outages. MP&L also had greater price stability compared to CEPA, which was facing major upgrade needs with costs ��passed to members. As a larger and better-heeled organization, MP&L could absorb the costs without causing rate shock among customers. As a result, service improved, and rates dropped.

After upgrades, CEPA lines that ran near MP&L’s lines could be joined, avoiding costly duplication; now lines could be fed from more than one way. And MP&L was also positioned to serve large industry and help develop new industrial sites.

Purchase benefits customers and workers

Although a consortium of other electric power associations challenged the purchase with the state Public Service Commission, MP&L closed the purchase in December 1972 by paying CEPA $10.5 million for facilities and another $1.5 million for other assets. The sale netted payouts averaging more than $700 per member. In the end, CEPA customers voted 2 to 1 in favor of the deal.

MP&L made good on its promise to absorb the CEPA workforce and retained the dissolved association’s board of directors for 12 years to distribute funds to the former members and to ensure the utility’s new rural customers were treated fairly. Plus, as MP&L employees, their linemen could join the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union. The IBEW granted those employees seniority credit for their time with CEPA.

The lasting legacy of the CEPA acquisition is how it opened rural farmlands to new uses, thanks to MP&L’s economic development engine, Meiners says. Former CEPA-serviced land in central Madison County, for example, is now home to brands like Nissan, Amazon, Siemens, Levi’s and Bayer—the core of the region’s economic engine.

However, as the need for renewable power sources grew in the early aughts, Entergy Mississippi began to look more closely at solar technology. The company’s Bright Future initiative, which kicked off in 2015, created a blueprint for the state’s electricity needs through 2025 and gave Entergy engineers an opportunity to learn more about the feasibility of solar technology in Mississippi.

Entergy Mississippi piloted its solar program at three locations within its 45-county certificated region: one each in Lincoln, Hinds and DeSoto counties. All three sites were similar in size and configured for 500 kW of power output. In Lincoln and DeSoto counties, the panels were fixed on a South-facing axis while the panels at the Hinds solar station rotated on a single axis to align with the sun’s movements.

“We learned a lot about the solar technology, but we also learned a lot about everything else that goes with solar generation,” said Aaron Hill, director of resource planning and market operations for Entergy Mississippi. “We learned how the timing of solar output correlates with our customer’s electricity usage, the overall vegetation maintenance requirements and even how to handle solar glass safely.”

Maximizing the power of the sun

Building on the knowledge gained through the first utility-owned utility-scale solar projects in the state, Entergy Mississippi found that solar works best on the days we all love: full sunny skies with moderate temperature of about 80 degrees. The company naturally chose the Delta, which averages 214 sunny days per year (4% higher than the national average), to partner and build its biggest solar project yet.

Sunflower Solar Station is the culmination of those research efforts and learnings—a large solar power station covering 1,000 acres near Ruleville in Sunflower County. Some 3,000 trackers control the movements of a staggering 272,000 solar panels, mimicking the sun’s natural East-to-West arc including adjustments for the position of the sun in all four seasons.

“We’ve taken our solar knowledge and experience and partnered to build the Sunflower Solar Project,” Hill said, “which will provide about 100MW of carbon-free energy for our Mississippi customers.”��

Entergy Mississippi turned on the site—the largest renewable energy-generating site in the state—in late 2022 and it now produces enough power for 16,000 homes. The solar station maximizes its energy potential throughout the day, and in the afternoon, the panels pivot to catch the westward sun as it sets.

“That afternoon period is important because that’s when our loads are usually at their highest, being a primarily residential state,” said Hill. “A lot of people start heading home from work in the late afternoon, and it’s also the warmest part of the day. ��So, we understand the benefits of capturing that last bit of daytime sunshine.�� However, solar doesn’t operate well at nighttime, so the transmission grid serves to help deliver power from other generators.” ��

Increasing reliability while decreasing costs

Industrial customers typically want to know about Entergy Mississippi’s resource mix and whether they can get solar or other renewable energy as part of that mix. The reason is twofold: many companies have their own energy sustainability goals, but also, if they’re going to make a multi-million-dollar investment somewhere, they want to feel confident about the diversity and reliability of their power source.

Entergy also introduced a net-metering program for residents who install solar panels on their homes. A two-way meter installed at the home can receive electricity and return excess electricity generated by the panels. The customer is then credited for solar power generated at the home on their power bills.

“Thanks to the vision and foresight shared by our company leadership, the Bright Future projects are now leading us down a path toward a more sustainable energy mix,” Hill said, “And with our recent EDGE announcement for 1,000 additional megawatts of renewables, we’re targeting even more carbon-free energy to add to our portfolio.”

Thanks to the , utilities can call upon each other in times of need to respond in large numbers, sending dedicated and skilled employees to rebuild the electric grid in a matter of days or weeks depending on the severity of storm damage.

Entergy Mississippi has sent its share of employees to help other companies through this program and has welcomed those from around the country when tornadoes, hurricanes and ice storms packed punches too hard for local crews to handle alone.��

Todd Watts, retired region manager who served in many operational capacities over the years, began leading Mississippi Power & Light crews to help others in 1997. In those days, however, it wasn’t the large contingent companies sent today, but a small group that grew with the need for response.

“Once MP&L became Entergy Mississippi, our construction and design employees were the first to respond to storms in other areas,” said Watts. “We started out with two supervisors and two teams, then pulled from networks if more personnel were needed. Some of the first utilities we assisted were Florida Power & Light, Duke ���ϳԹ���, Progress ���ϳԹ��� and Georgia Power. Later, of course, we went on to assist many others including PEPCO Holdings, Con Edison and PSEG.”

Watts said initially the crew leader was responsible for all arrangements needed such as securing rooms and meals, getting the team from one location to another and coordinating with the host utility on worksites, equipment and procedures. Now, there is an entire team of people only handling logistics both within Entergy’s service territory and wherever our crews are needed.

“The process really improved over the years,” Watts added. “By having other Mississippi employees take the responsibility for ensuring crews had somewhere to sleep, for example, we were able to focus on what was most important — safety.”

Safety is a core value

Safety is a core value at Entergy. While the industry follows the same Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards, the way in which companies prioritize or implement them may differ from one area to another. Before power restoration begins, the host electric company provides its mutual-assistance workers with an overview of affected equipment and clarifies local safety practices.

One such clarification following a Florida storm resulted in strengthened safety/operational practices at Entergy Mississippi, according to Watts.

“As far as safety goes, we learned a lot from each other in the early days of the mutual-assistance program,” Watts continued. “For example, when our Florida host insisted that we use grounding flags to prevent accidents by giving a clear visual of where crews were working, we had to adjust because we weren’t doing that back at home. Following that trip, we came back and immediately implemented them in Mississippi. The practice soon went companywide, and all operating companies are still using grounding flags today.”

In a similar fashion, when Entergy’s safeguards were more rigorous than those of the host utility, the two companies would agree to use Entergy safety procedures instead.��

“As the years went by, utilities came together and stacked hands on what the rules should be,” Watts said. “I remember when the two-span rule was implemented, sadly after we had already lost one of our own during 2003’s Hurricane Isabel restoration in Baltimore. As a result, and as hard as it may be during the aftermath of a major storm, crews had to stay that distance away until the line is known to be de-energized and grounded.”��

Once the two-span rule was implemented, operations had to work closely with safety to make sure we complied with the rule.����

“One of the 2004 Florida hurricanes really challenged our travel team because the area we were assigned was devastated – poles and wire were down everywhere – and we had to comply with the new two-span rule,” said Watts.�� “We decided the larger crew would stay in a staging area while the crew lead and service team went in to clear the source and ground the line.�� We were literally driving around poles and over conductor that was down to get to the source feed.”

Mutual assistance enhanced following series of storms

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, Gustav and Ike in 2008 and Superstorm Sandy in 2012 further enhanced cooperation among utilities whether they were investor-owned, municipalities or cooperatives. In fact, those devastating storms caused the power industry to enhance mutual assistance with the help of organizations like the Edison Electric Institute, the American Public Power Association and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Despite the challenges, long hours and time away from home, most line workers feel a sense of pride and camaraderie in getting the lights back on for those left in the dark. Whether retired or still working, crew leader or scout, seasoned or new, they all say that the gratitude customers show them is priceless.

Recent Entergy Mississippi retiree Clarence Irby, who joined the company in 1987, said he has pretty much seen it all. From the 1994 Mississippi ice storm to 2018’s Hurricane Michael, he always found it amazing how crews from around the country join forces for a common cause.

“Since we all have the same skill set, we’re able to understand each other and pull together as we repair the damage and restore power,” said Irby. “When people see us coming down the road, they feel a sense of relief and are deeply appreciative because they know we’re there to help. The simple fact that their lives will return to some semblance of normalcy sooner rather than later is a big boost and I always felt so thankful I was able to be there for them.”

Current Entergy Mississippi lineman Greg Garrett said that while getting large numbers of customers back on at once is always rewarding, he finds that getting down to the smaller neighborhood or street levels makes a bigger impact on those in the hardest-hit areas.

“Helping customers who have been without power the longest — sometimes for weeks — brings an entirely different feeling to the process,” said Garrett. “If they couldn’t leave the area, they were just stuck there, making do as best as they could. When the lights come on, the refrigerator starts running, the stove and microwave work and they can cool or heat their homes; they’re so relieved. That makes the mutual-assistance program totally worth it.”

As of April 2023, Entergy has received 44 EEI Emergency Response Awards for restoration and .

As an army of electric line workers and contractors arrive to put the pieces back together, another army is making phone calls, setting up lodging and other support services, entering information and overseeing deliveries to ensure crews get adequate rest and sustenance so they’re safe and productive on the job.

This logistics support may not be seen by customers but is crucial to any successful storm response. It also is much appreciated by crew leaders who had to handle those details along with restoration work in the early days of mutual-assistance efforts.��

Paula Terry, who recently retired with 42 years of service, remembers those times and, in an effort to lessen the load placed on travel teams, was assigned the role of crew tracker during major storms. Every Entergy employee , a companywide policy instituted some 15 years ago.

“Making sure that restoration workers are well taken care of is a key role in storm logistics,” said Terry. “And the numbers can grow rapidly depending on the scale of damage caused. When restoration efforts are widespread, it becomes imperative to track and monitor crew activity for efficient management.”

Logistics crews support crew whenever, wherever needed

Logistics crews support restoration crews whenever, wherever needed

Terry said that management becomes particularly challenging as crews complete repairs on one circuit and move to the next, which sometimes can be an hour or more away. It also can be challenging when host staging sites are full and hotel rooms are limited or nonexistent in affected areas.

Often set up in parking lots, staging sites operate like small cities, offering workers places to sleep, eat, refuel vehicles and restock supplies. Bunk trailers are often brought in, cots are set up in large tents, and other tents serve as dining halls. Other trailers are provided as shower and restroom facilities, and laundry service often is available as well.

“After Hurricane Ida, Entergy Mississippi crews were working multiple circuits simultaneously and moving around daily,” said Terry. “We were constantly making arrangements, sometimes double- and triple-checking to be sure they were confirmed. The last thing we want is to have workers who are already tired from 16-hour shifts find out there’s nowhere to sleep other than their trucks. That is not ideal, which is why we’re so vigilant in our efforts.”

She added that logistics personnel frequently work 16-hour days themselves to ensure success in taking care of the crews, voicing satisfaction to have been part of such a dedicated team for so long.

“The commitment of Entergy Mississippi employees is impressive,” said Terry. “Over and over, I witnessed the sacrifices my co-workers made to get the job done even when their own homes and lives were torn apart. As customers ourselves, we know how much it means when power is restored, and we pulled together to make sure everything ran the way it should so crews could safely get the lights back on as quickly as possible.”

Entergy streamlines logistics to improve response effort

Maurice Rieffel, senior manager of incident response, said that following Hurricane Ida, which devastated much of Entergy’s service area in 2021 before it headed northeast, the company changed the way in which logistics were managed. Implementing a new resource-management program and centralizing operations, each operating company — including Entergy Mississippi — now efficiently coordinates all plans with the logistics team before taking action.��

“We know our employees go above and beyond when storms strike, providing superior customer service whether right here in our own backyard or when traveling to help other utilities,” said Rieffel. “That’s why we’ve refined our processes, upgraded our tools and restructured some roles in an effort to provide better and more streamlined support.”

Rieffel added although the company hasn’t yet faced another large-scale event, this new approach was successfully tested in spring 2023 when destructive tornadoes tore a path through the Magnolia State, virtually leveling the town of Rolling Fork.

Todd Watts, retired region manager who served in many operational capacities over the years, said he’s glad to see company support grow and evolve along with what crews need to be safe, efficient and effective in the worst of conditions.��

“When the first Mississippi teams began traveling to help others many years ago, we were responsible for our own arrangements and one person back in the office was reconciling our credit card receipts,” said Watts. “While we were glad to be going and we made it work, it was challenging at times.

“Besides better safety practices, I think one of the biggest improvements in mutual-assistance efforts has been assembling a complete logistic team to travel with our crews,” he added. “From radio issues, to tire blow outs, to rooms to food – the logistic team handled all of the travel team’s needs.”

That 1939 win was an accomplishment in an industry where safety standards were far from cohesive. In fact, it would be 31 more years before the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was created, and another nine before the Standard for Electrical Safety Requirements for Employee Workplaces was released.

But that doesn’t mean employees weren’t focused on safety along the way. In 1961, for example, MP&L adopted hard hats as essential gear for line workers, which was just one of many improvements in personal protective equipment over the years that demonstrates that safety is a core value for the company.��

And in 2006, shortly after hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated much of Entergy’s four-state service area, Mississippi operations and communications staff came up with a campaign that broke safety down to its most basic element — the human one.

Darryl Daves, retired senior manager of both distribution operations and utility safety, said that campaign, called Safety: Remember the Reasons, was hatched during a brainstorming session in conference room 2 at Entergy Mississippi’s Tombigbee Street location.

Stressing the importance of going home safely each and every day to family, friends and loved ones, it resonated with employees and quickly picked up steam not only around Mississippi, but around the rest of utility operations, nuclear operations and power generation.��

Remembering the reasons resonates with team

“In all my years at Entergy, I would say that Safety: Remember the Reasons was the best program we ever had because it was all-inclusive,” said Daves. “From the lineman who liked to fish with his dad to the engineer who coached little league, from the apprentice who had just joined the company to the employee who had been here for 30 years, everyone jumped at the opportunity to share their reasons for working safely.”

Daves added that the campaign helped the company turn a corner in impressing upon all employees the value and importance of keeping safety as the top priority for the people and activities they cherished most. Bolstered by a special logo and anchored by employee stories, it included posters, stickers, photo frames, calendars, hats and other items employees could use on a daily basis.

“I would say that Safety: Remember the Reasons set Mississippi and the rest of Entergy up for a safer future,” said Daves. “It breathed new life into previous efforts, helped change the mindset from reactive to proactive and was a hit from the break room to the boardroom.”

Current Entergy Mississippi safety team member Larry Smith agrees. Having been with the company since 2000, he saw first-hand the positive impact the campaign had on his co-workers and the groundwork it laid for today.

“Even if we no longer use the Safety: Remember the Reasons campaign name, there still is nothing more important to our employees than going home at the end of each day the same way they came to work that morning,” said Smith. “The personal nature of working safely still strikes home and is the driving force behind staying focused and following procedures.”

Living safe begins with training

Today, the motto “Live Safe: All Day, Every Day,” embodies safety as a core value and reminds employees to give safety unwavering attention on and off the job. The company is also giving employees the tools and training necessary for them to put this motto into practice.

Entergy is investing in workforce safety through its high-tech training facility right here in the Magnolia State. Not only designed to prepare new Mississippi line workers, the is used to train those from locations around Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas as well.��

This goes hand-in-hand with a new safety manual Smith said the company recently rolled out with great success. And in the 23 years he’s been here, he said the Mississippi safety team has gone from having just one safety specialist to five plus a supervisor. This growth is crucial to hazard mitigation and accident prevention.

“With the input of both craft employees and management, we rewrote the safety manual to make it more user-friendly than the previous one had been,” said Smith. “This version is downloadable and searchable, and employees have easy access to it on their tablets. We’ve gotten good feedback from crews so far, and they especially like the way potential scenarios are listed with corresponding guidance.”

Smith said the current safety program is centered around that “aims to eliminate life-threatening, life-altering and life-ending events by focusing on human performance and building the capacity to fail safely.” Entergy partners with Quanta through Northwest Lineman College.

Preparation is prevention

Further, Smith said that crews focus on STKY — otherwise known as stuff that kills you — and by using a hazard-identification tool known as the ���ϳԹ��� Wheel, they can incorporate the capacity for failure into their work.��

“For many years, our industry has been touting the idea of Target Zero accidents that, in a perfect world, would be ideal,” Smith continued. “But humans are fallible and Target Zero is never completely attainable. By using STKY and the ���ϳԹ��� Wheel, crews can now examine all facets of a situation and prepare for the event that something may go wrong. By acknowledging that incidents will happen, they can discuss in advance ways to ensure that nobody is injured or killed.”

Smith said Mississippi is one of the first Entergy operating companies to begin using this model. Allowing for deeper conversations and more effective coaching surrounding jobs, he said it has really clicked with crews and enhanced communication across the board.

“We’ve noticed that learning has improved and teams have gotten stronger,” added Smith. “By building upon our personal reasons for working safely and adding ways to successfully overcome failures, we’re better able to adapt to ever-changing circumstances while still meeting the needs of our customers.”

As the power source behind the luxuries of refrigerated food, machine-washed clothes, and television entertainment, most customers might view our service primarily from a residential perspective. However, an electric utility’s impact reaches deep into a community’s roots.

One of the biggest factors companies assess before locating or expanding their business to an area is the affordability and reliability of their energy source. So, when communities need to attract new industries and jobs, the electric utility’s economic development team lends a hand with locating and preparing building sites, and coordinating new developments. These are responsibilities that Entergy Mississippi has had a great history of accomplishing.

As one of its first economic development actions, Mississippi Power & Light – Entergy Mississippi’s former name – leveraged its role as an electric utility provider to help the state bring in more industrial customers after the decline in agriculture careers in the 1950s. Led by the utility company, the Helping Build Mississippi initiative became the state’s oldest private economic development program.

Building momentum for Mississippi

Powering communities through economic development continues to be one of Entergy’s most proud contributions to the state.

Most recently, Entergy Mississippi played a key role in recruiting a to the state – the single largest capital investment in state history. The transformative project will provide at least 1,000 direct jobs and make Mississippi a technology leader in the Southeast United States.

While the campuses for the project will be located at two sites in the Madison County – one being the Megasite, the impacts of this sizeable investment will reach across our service territory – creating support for economic development, education and infrastructure investments.

In 2022, Entergy Mississippi helped secure��$808 million in capital investments and helped to facilitate the state’s new . These investments helped create nearly 1,050 new jobs within the state.

Notable projects include the expansion of Nissan Canton, which will invest $500 million to transform the Madison County assembly plant to build all-new EV models starting in 2025. Since its opening in 2003, Nissan Canton’s impact has reached far across the Jackson Metro area and helped establish the state’s growing automotive sector.��

The Nissan Canton plant has been touted as one of Mississippi’s largest economic development projects in its 200-year history, and Entergy Mississippi is continually building on the momentum from the significant investment.

Recently, the economic development team helped secure Milwaukee Tool’s $60 million expansion in Grenada. The new manufacturing facility brings more than 800 jobs to the state and helped accelerate the building of a new Entergy Mississippi substation. The investments from the project in turn support more growth in the area. 

The team also facilitated Menasha Packaging’s expansion in Pelahatchie and Jordan Carriers’ project in Natchez. Menasha’s $79 million investment will create more than 20 new jobs. Jordan Carriers’ new 20,000-square-foot headquarters consists of $11 million worth of investment and 30 new jobs.

Each of these projects represent customers from various regions of Entergy Mississippi’s service area – highlighting our economic development footprint across the state.

Preparing communities for progress

In addition to partnering with cities and counties to secure new investment, Entergy Mississippi contributes to community growth by awarding grants to help make industrial sites more attractive to prospective companies.

Every year since 2017, Entergy Mississippi has awarded Excellerator Competitive Communities Grants to local economic development organizations to help them stay competitive in marketing their sites and communities to companies. The program has awarded 20 organizations and over a half a million dollars to date.

Through its , Entergy Mississippi helps communities with due diligence to make economic development sites ready for development. Doing this helps to better attract prospective companies, who want to start businesses as quickly as possible.

With the help of the Qualified Site Program, Mississippi communities have received nearly $14 million from the Mississippi Development Authority. MDA’s Site Development Grant Program allows communities to better prepare highly competitive sites for immediate industrial development. Notably, the Vicksburg River Megasite and Port Complex received $4 million to perform wetlands mitigation. Tate, Madison, Bolivar, Hinds, Pike and Rankin counties also benefitted from site awards.

Staying aggressive to build a brighter future

One of the critical ways to ensure that Mississippi has an advantage over other states is through Entergy Mississippi’s site qualification process. The utility’s economic development team identifies and prepares sites for certification before companies commit to the property. In this way, the team identifies risks on the front end to mitigate concerns for potential customers to locate in the future.

Mississippi needs to stay aggressive to take advantage of every opportunity in the Southeast United States. The future is bright for the state, and our economic development team is working every day to bring in new projects for growth.

The organization is passionate about supporting the communities in which it operates, whether through helping local charities or contributing to the regional energy economy. It balances the resiliency and reliability of the grid while keeping customers’ costs down and is working towards a more sustainable grid that can be accessed by all.

Entergy Mississippi is also juggling the demands of modern consumers as the world approaches global energy transition. With several technologies and renewable energy sources in constant discussion, Haley Fisackerly, Entergy Mississippi’s President and CEO, is tasked with managing, and meeting customers’ expectations.

Powering communities
Haley joins us to discuss the ever-changing market in Mississippi, the adoption of renewables, and the ways in which the company gives back to the communities in which it operates. “This year, we’re celebrating 100 years of doing business in Mississippi, which was the second of ���ϳԹ���’s operating companies that were incorporated into the group,” he opens.

“Our Founder, Harvey Couch, established Arkansas Power and Light, which is now Entergy Arkansas, in 1913. Ten years later, he came across the river into Mississippi and chartered into what was then Mississippi Power & Light Company and is now Entergy Mississippi. After that charter in April 1923, Harvey started acquiring various municipalities and the corporation grew from there.

“When we think about electricity, it’s something that many of us take for granted; we don’t order it, we just wake up and it’s there, ready to be flicked on and used,” Haley continues. “However, back when we started, electricity was still somewhat a novelty. Not everyone had electricity, mainly because people couldn’t afford it, so it was limited to municipalities that could have a power plant and deployed lines.

“The birth of our company ran almost in parallel to the birth of the electricity industry itself,” he proposes. “Here we are 100 years later and for most of us, we couldn’t imagine life without power. We truly are the bloodline of the communities and the customers we serve, as well as driving the state’s economy.”

Resilient and reliable
Operating in an area prone to storms, hurricanes, and tornadoes, Entergy Mississippi is responsible for power restoration after outages in the region. Recognizing that electrical power is now a necessity of day-to-day life, it is concentrating its efforts on strengthening the grid to bring enhanced reliability but also resiliency in the event of adverse weather.

“2023 has been a tumultuous year for us,” Haley reflects. “We’ve been hit with record cold temperatures, awful tornadoes hit some of our communities in March, and then we had a June like we’ve never seen before with a series of thunderstorms equal to Category 1 hurricanes. We’ve also dealt with record high temperatures, which surpassed our peak record three days in a row.

“When we have storms or outages for other reasons, power can be rerouted with its self-healing capabilities,” he proposes. “Although the entire utility industry must have effective storm response units, not just the energy sector, it is our mission to harden our grid to consistently and reliably provide cleaner energy to our customers.”

Haley continues: “One of the things I love most about my job is the opportunity to work with our communities and help them grow. Our most valuable asset is our people, many of whom live in local areas alongside our customers and we’re passionate about giving back to them.

“I’m also constantly aware that 20 percent of our customers live below the national poverty level, so we’re dedicated to deploying technologies and energy sources that benefit all our customers. We support local business by providing various economic incentives to help people get started, or even help existing companies through times of difficulty.”

With sustainability and renewables dominating discussions over the future of energy, Entergy Mississippi is playing into these conversations. Striving to provide the safest, cleanest energy to its customers, the organization is constantly searching for ways to lower costs while meeting increasing demands for sustainable power.

“Historically, the big debate in the US was deregulation of the industry, but after many failed attempts, we saw the wholesale markets become extremely competitive,” Haley recalls. “However, there is widespread recognition that retail markets still require regulation to enable us to deploy technologies and find new ways of generating energy.

Smart grids
“We’re looking at solar power, for example, as well as wind power and the use of hydrogen, but to be able to launch such technologies takes a huge capital expense. The best way to do that, I believe, is under a modernized, regulated model. There will be more distributed energy resources moving forward, from rooftop solar panels to micro turbines or grids.

“We have a heavy mix of natural gas and nuclear and have a commitment to increasingly add renewables to our portfolio. We’re striving to be well-positioned to appropriately respond to energy circumstances. When the sun is shining, we’re ready to deploy solar power, and when we get a cloud, we can quickly transition using all available resources to find another clean, effective alternative.

“We’re deploying 1000-megawatts of solar facilities over the next five years, for instance, as part of our Economic Development with Green ���ϳԹ��� (EDGE) program,” he reveals. “This strategy is two-fold, giving Mississippi an edge in recruiting industry while simultaneously giving Entergy customers
an effective hedge against volatile natural gas prices.”

Aside from sustainability, the evolution of technology has resulted in several changes to the company’s operations. “We’re no longer our grandfather’s utility,” laughs Haley.
“The biggest advancement we’ve seen in our lifetime is communications technology, which is transforming the way we manage and produce energy, especially as we modernize the grid. The future will almost certainly include smart grids, so we must learn how to best operate them and how to use devices like reclosers.

“It’s not only technology that has changed the way we monitor the grid and reroute power, but the materials have changed too. For example, we’re currently in the process of replacing wooden transmission poles with more resilient steel ones, which can withstand winds of up to 155 miles per hour.”

Exceeding expectations
As our conversation draws to a close, Haley adds: “Our goal remains to meet customers’ expectations and address some of the many challenges currently facing the entire industry. While challenges lie ahead, it is those opportunities that excite me. It’s amazing to see the industry progress with technology. It excites me that we can start to imagine a day where people don’t lose power. It’s within the realm of possibility, particularly when we start to analyze how we can build a smart grid with various distributed energy sources.

“Further afield, I’d like to see us as the premier utility company in Mississippi, and even in the US,” he concludes. “We will continue to deliver the best service and most competitive rates for our customers, while also providing opportunities for our employees and the wider communities.”

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This article was originally published in ���ϳԹ���, Oil & Gas Magazine. To view it, click .

We’ve compiled the top stories shared in our newsroom this year. But first – do you want to take an even further trip down memory lane? Check out Entergy Mississippi’s 100^th anniversary and .

Now, let’s count down to the top story of the year:

#10

As summer temperatures approached our customers, and energy usage began to rise, to help customers manage their energy bills. Funded by Entergy shareholders, the commitment included $1 million in free��energy efficiency kits; more than $520,000 in emergency bill assistance for older adults and customers with disabilities; and 100 community events in honor of the company’s centennial anniversary.

#9

, collectively bringing more than 130 years of knowledge. The team ushered in the company’s next century, with the goal of making it a premier utility. New executive members included Vice President of Reliability Shawn Corkran, Vice President of Power Plant Operations Demitrius Davis, Vice President of Customer Service Robbie Kemp, Assistant General Counsel Tianna H. Raby, Director of Resource Planning and Market Operations Aaron Hill, and Communications Manager Leyla Goodsell.

#8

The company rang in the new year with a major launch, in preparation for a growing electric vehicle market. of its kind in ���ϳԹ���’s four-state service area. The $200,000 fast charging station is located at Renaissance at Colony Park in Ridgeland and will allow the company to study the impact of electric vehicles on the power grid.��

#7

Some of the best news customers received this year – just in time for the summer temperature surge. 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.��

#6

Did you know that during the warmer months, cooling costs make up more than 55% of an average customer’s electric bill? , to help save money on electric bills during the summer. In addition to the tips, the offers products and services available for year-round energy efficiency upgrades at little to no cost.

#5

On April 12, 1923, Harvey Couch officially chartered The Mississippi Power & Light Company, which later became Entergy Mississippi. A century later, , and a commitment to pack 100,000 meals for families impacted by food scarcity. The centennial theme kicked-off with 100 employee volunteers gathering for the first red beans and rice meal packing event at the Mississippi Agriculture Museum. ��

#4

The first half of 2023 is marked with heroic recovery efforts from historic storms across our service territory. While boots were on the ground, Entergy Mississippi awarded grants to nearly 100 nonprofits – demonstrating a commitment to the communities it serves. The grants awarded in the first half of the year totaled more than $600,000, and a made a difference through education and workforce development, poverty solutions and environmental programs.

#3

The March 24 tornadoes that flattened parts of the Mississippi Delta changed the community forever. An EF-4 tornado destroyed nearly 300 homes, and more than 700 service and secondary poles. Because seeking assistance from governmental agencies after a disaster can sometimes be a frustrating and confusing process, . The company partnered with��, a national disaster recovery organization, to train more than 150 employees on the FEMA appeal process. Customers can sign up to receive assistance by calling 800-276-9511.

#2

at the Children’s Foundation of Mississippi Summit in January. Kids to College, powered by Entergy, in partnership with the Children’s Foundation of Mississippi, announced a $60,000 contribution to help low- and moderate-income Mississippi families establish child savings accounts. The Kids to College my529 account allows families to put money away to start saving for their children to attend a two- or four-year college, trade school or technical school.

#1

As a leader in helping advance the support for education and workforce development in the state, the company extended the legacy with two major gifts totaling $500,000. Entergy Mississippi committed to contributing $250,000 over five years to help fund the renovation of the����on the campus of Mississippi College in Clinton, and $250,000 over five years to the Foundation for Mississippi History to support a new initiative by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. The initiative will transform the����campus in Washington, Mississippi.

Editorial team favorite

Acknowledging that telling Mississippi’s history would be incomplete without the story of Medgar Evers and his efforts.��Entergy proudly contributed $100,000 to the preservation of the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument. The contribution was made possible through Entergy’s Social Justice and Equity Fund, which advances social justice and equity for historically underserved communities across Entergy’s service territory.��It was the second major grant awarded through the fund and the first in Mississippi.

For the utility industry, the crisis was a reckoning point that held long-term repercussions for millions of customers nationwide. Signs were clear that the status quo was no longer tenable—it was a new era that demanded new solutions.

Today, Entergy Mississippi’s customers and communities continue benefiting from actions taken by the company to forge a new direction into the future. They include the construction of Grand Gulf Nuclear Station, which has been safely generating emission-free electricity for nearly 40 years, and an emphasis on energy-saving programs and technologies that help customers control costs and reduce their carbon footprint.

The company also sought relief for customers struggling with record energy costs by launching the “Concern” initiative in partnership with local communities. It eventually became The Power to Care, an Entergy-wide program that provides emergency bill-payment assistance for low-income elderly and disabled customers.

“When a company lasts 100 years, that means it stayed the course through a lot of ups and downs,” said Katherine Nelson, who rose to internal communications manager while working for Mississippi Power & Light, the precursor to Entergy Mississippi, from 1974 to 1988. “Entergy had a common denominator: They were men and women of integrity who were very forward-thinking and committed to customers. They were successful at developing strategic, long-term plans to make sure customers had access to affordable electricity to power Mississippi’s economy.”

Driving innovation and energy conservation

Though the company announced plans in 1972 to build Grand Gulf, it would be more than a decade before the plant was ready to supply power to the grid. In the meantime, Entergy Mississippi pursued a variety of strategies to mitigate the effects of the energy crisis.��

As part of Middle South Utilities, the company helped form System Fuels, Inc., which specialized in finding and acquiring fuels for its generating facilities. When the oil embargo sent shockwaves through the economy in 1973, Entergy Mississippi launched a $50 million program to adapt its plants to efficiently burn fuel oil, a less expensive and domestically produced alternative to natural gas.��

Entergy also invested more resources in helping customers conserve energy and save money. Marketing campaigns promoted energy-efficient heat pumps and water heaters, and innovative strategies such as off-peak metering helped customers lower bills by running appliances during early morning or evening hours.

The ���ϳԹ��� Efficient Electric program, or E3, encouraged home builders to adopt energy-efficient construction standards, such as increasing wall and attic insulation, while the “Zip Up” program focused on conservation tips for homeowners.��

Efforts to help customers improve energy efficiency became hardwired into Entergy Mississippi’s service offerings. Through today’s program, residential and business customers can access resources to increase energy and cost savings along with energy-efficient products and programs in the.��������

When the first mass-produced electric car debuted in 1975, Entergy Mississippi incorporated it into its pro-electricity messaging. Built by Florida-based Sebring-Vanguard, the tiny, red 3.5-horsepower CitiCar was often seen zipping around town during its sensational albeit short life in Jackson.

“I got to ride in a parade in the CitiCar, and luckily we got it back to the office in time before it quit on us—it was not that reliable,” Nelson said. “But who would have thought electric cars in the 70s? The company was always in tune with anything that was on the horizon in terms of promoting electricity.”

Entergy stayed in tune with the electric vehicle market and has been advancing EV technology and infrastructure as part of its sustainability goals. Entergy is working with other utilities to throughout major regions of the U.S.; and Entergy Mississippi recently launched the of its kind in ���ϳԹ���’s four-state service area. The pilot project also will study the effects of EV charging on the electric grid.

In 1978, solar technology came to Entergy Mississippi when NASA selected its training center in Clinton for a five-year project to test solar heating. Funded by the Department of ���ϳԹ���, the experimental solar unit provided heating and hot water for the training staff’s overnight facility.

Powering out of the crisis and onto the path to premier

But it would be decades before utility-scale solar power and electric vehicles entered the mainstream. In Mississippi, all eyes were on nuclear power and Grand Gulf Unit 1, which was 60% complete in 1979 when a partial meltdown occurred at Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Pennsylvania.

In response to the accident, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission indefinitely suspended all plant construction projects. Grand Gulf was delayed more than a year, resulting in major cost overruns. When construction resumed, utilities were required to make Three Mile Island-related modifications that drove up budgets. Anti-nuclear protests were on the rise, and many construction projects were eventually canceled, including Grand Gulf Unit 2.��

It was a dark chapter for nuclear power, yet the energy crisis persisted. Entergy Mississippi filed for rate increases to address volatile fuel prices and sought cheaper sources of electricity. The company purchased 25% of the coal-fired Independence Steam Electric Station in Arkansas and explored the feasibility of building a coal plant in DeSoto County and a hydroelectric unit on the Ross Barnett Reservoir north of Jackson.

The energy equation in the U.S. began shifting in the late 1970s with the completion of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System as well as the enactment of national energy policies. But even with a plentiful new supply of cheaper domestic crude oil, it would take years for the utility industry to recover from disruptions in global oil markets.��

Entergy Mississippi held fast to its vision to bring the stabilizing benefits of nuclear energy to Mississippians. On July 1, 1985, Grand Gulf entered commercial operations, and by the end of the decade, it was one of the top-performing nuclear plants in the country. In 2016, the NRC validated Grand Gulf’s sustained record of safe operations by granting a license extension through 2044, two additional decades past the plant’s original licensing date.��

“We answered the challenges of the energy crisis by investing in new technologies and transforming our generation mix with more diverse fuel sources,” said Haley Fisackerly, president and CEO of Entergy Mississippi. “Since that time, we’ve also stepped up our environmental leadership by voluntarily reducing carbon emissions and seeking more sustainable strategies to power life safely, reliably and affordably for many generations to come.

As more efficient and economical generation options became available, Entergy Mississippi replaced older fossil units with combined cycle gas turbine technology, enabling more electricity to be produced from the same amount of fuel while reducing carbon emissions.��

With the addition of Sunflower Solar Station in 2022 and similar projects on the horizon, customers also have a growing supply of emission-free as part of EDGE, for “,” a program that will add 1,000 megawatts of renewable energy to the grid by 2027.

Entergy Mississippi’s decision in 2013 to join the Midcontinent Independent System Operator also has helped secure access to a reliable supply of electricity while providing $284 million in economic benefits to the company and its customers.

“As we enter a new century of operations in Mississippi, we’re focused on becoming the premier utility,” Fisackerly said, “and that means working every day to build a brighter, more resilient future for our customers and communities.”��