Entergy Arkansas has lined up business and political allies to support its plan to build a $1.6 billion power plant near Redfield, including state lawmakers, Little Rock Regional Chamber CEO Jay Chesshir and Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce CEO Randy Zook.
Entergy, the state’s largest electric company, serving about 730,000 homes and businesses, is selling the plant as an economic engine, a source of badly needed power, and an efficient source of reliable and affordable electricity.
The natural gas-burning Jefferson Power Station, with regulatory approval, would fill part of the generation gap Entergy will face in 2028 when it retires its White Bluff coal operation in Redfield. Entergy agreed to stop burning coal at White Bluff and its Independence plant in Newark in an environmental lawsuit settlement approved in 2021. The Newark plant will retire in 2030.
Entergy says building the JPS will support 3,600 construction jobs and generate an estimated $2.9 billion in economic benefits. The plant itself will also contribute $128 million in local, county and sales taxes, Entergy said.
New technology will make the plant 40% more efficient than older generators, the utility said, helping Entergy keep Arkansas’ traditionally low power prices down “while supporting business and population growth… .”
Entergy CEO Laura Landreaux said in a statement that the JPS represents a cornerstone investment for the future.
“This facility will strengthen reliability, keep costs low for our customers, and provide the dependable energy supply our communities need to thrive,” she said. “We’re building for the next generation of Arkansans.”
Entergy plans to use Arkansas-based vendors during construction and has set up a prospective supplier registration process. Businesses can find more information at entergy.com/suppliers/doing-business.
Once built, the plant will employ about 22 full-time workers.
The 754-megawatt combined-cycle combustion plant could be online by 2029 with enough capacity to power about 355,000 homes, the utility said. Entergy is looking at the possibility of converting White Bluff’s coal units to burn natural gas, and it’s hoping to build a large solar and battery storage facility near Wright, dubbed Arkansas Cypress. That solar farm would be a hedge against gas price fluctuations, Entergy said.
The Jefferson Power Station would use the existing White Bluff infrastructure to save hundreds of millions of dollars in transmission costs, “while new state financing mechanisms will reduce long-term interest expenses and help minimize future rate increases,” the investor-owned utility said.
Lawmakers like state Sen. Stephanie Flowers of Pine Bluff see the JPS as an attractive lure to draw power-hungry businesses to Arkansas rather than neighboring states.
More than 25 leaders declared their support in filings before the Arkansas Public Service Commission. Flowers called the JPS “critical to our state’s long-term success as well as our ability to attract economic development opportunities.”
State Rep. Kenneth B. Ferguson of Pine Bluff noted that the General Assembly and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders supported Arkansas Acts 373 and 940 to support power generation projects. Act 373, the Generating Arkansas Jobs Act, simplifies regulatory approval and lets utilities start billing ratepayers for projects while they’re being built, rather than after the fact.
Zook, speaking for the State Chamber, called the JPS the first step in redeveloping the White Bluff site. “Approval will allow Entergy Arkansas to meet customer demand, support new jobs and investment, and provide direct benefits to local communities through construction activity, long-term tax revenues, and the presence of a strong corporate partner,” he said.
Sign up for Daily E-news
