Entergy Louisiana Application to Build 2.2 GW of New Gas Capacity
Synapse provided technical assistance to Sierra Club in reviewing Entergy Louisiana LLC’s (Entergy) application for approval to build three new combined-cycle power plants for a total of 2,236 MW in Louisiana to serve a new data center customer (Meta). Synapse’s testimony focused on:
- whether Entergy has established a need for the three proposed combined-cycle turbines
- whether Meta is covering the full incremental cost of service through the proposed Large Load, High Load Factor Power Service Rate Schedule and the minimum monthly charge during the term of the Energy Service Agreement, as well as its allocated share of fixed and variable costs and associated riders
- whether Meta is covering the full incremental cost of transmission expansion projects being built to serve the data center and whether Entergy is maximizing the value of the new transmission assets
- how Entergy is serving the remainder of Meta’s load beyond what can be provided by the three gas plants
- the impact of the data center project on Entergy’s customers over the long term.
Synapse found that the proposed data center project is unprecedented in size and will be the largest in Meta’s portfolio and possibly the largest single data center project in the United States. Meta’s full load cannot be met by the proposed gas plants; therefore, Entergy will have to use existing capacity on its system to make up the shortfall. Entergy has planned retirement dates for some of its legacy resources, such as the Nelson 6 coal plant, but has not committed to these dates and is likely to extend some, if not all, of them. Entergy did not justify the choice of the three combined-cycle plants or support the proposal with robust modeling and consideration of alternatives—including renewables, battery storage, load flexibility, and grid-enhancing technologies. Entergy has not justified that one of the proposed transmission projects is needed but for the data center customers. Entergy has also not provided any information on the data center’s projected demand, including hourly load shape, load flexibility, and major drivers of energy consumption.
Synapse recommended that the Commission not approve the certification of public convenience and necessity without also requiring the Company to bring online at least 1,500 MW of standalone and paired solar PV in the next five years to address the capacity shortfall between the data center’s load and the capacity of the three proposed gas plants. The retirement of Nelson 6 should be locked in and not delayed. Entergy should study and file with the Commission a report that evaluates how much solar, storage, and other alternatives are necessary to fill the gap between the data center’s demand and the capacity of the three proposed gas plants. The Commission should also require Entergy to provide more information about the data center’s load shape and flexibility potential.