Posted October 22, 2018 in Economic Development
As you think about all the best customer experiences you’ve ever had, two things probably occurred. First, the company providing the product or service likely offered you with something that met a personal need – something that felt like it was made just for you.
Secondly, you likely also had a relationship with the company providing the product or service. Regardless of whether that relationship was five minutes or five years, they listened to your wants and needs, your ideas and opinions, and made you feel like the end result was something you collaborated with them to create.
Now imagine what it would be like if that was your experience with your local energy company.
At Entergy, we are actively reimagining our business to design products and services with and for our customers.
All of this is made possible through our $17.7 billion capital plan for the next five years and beyond that will meet our customers’ energy needs through increased reliability, affordability, efficiency and sustainability.
Our company has made great strides in recent years to better understand what our customers need and want. Today, things like reliability and affordability are table stakes in our industry. Customer priorities are more expansive and may include speed to market, sustainability or other factors critical to their operations and corporate culture.
Our company has shifted from a business model of telling customers what we will supply to proactively learning what their unique needs are and working closely with them to provide solutions that best align with their business goals.
A little more than five years ago, I was asked by our Chairman and CEO Leo Denault to put together an organization of Entergy employees that would work with those on the direct customer relationship side to deliver large projects that enable our customers’ individual business goals to become a reality. This team now stands at more than 100 men and women who are focused solely on successfully executing projects safely, with high quality, on or ahead of schedule, and within or under budget.
Since the inception of our team, we’ve successfully executed on $2.5 billion in power generation and transmission investments.
Within our transmission portfolio, more than 255 projects have been placed in service with Entergy’s Ninemile 6 project in Louisiana serving as a good example of our successful project management, budget and schedule discipline. Ninemile 6, which was completed in 2016, came in under budget and two months ahead of schedule.
This project is also a good example of our work in transforming sources of generation supply to deliver efficient, clean, reliable and lower-cost electricity to customers.
Other examples of projects put into service well ahead of our customers’ target dates include Big River Steel and Cameron LNG.
The customer advantage of Entergy being a fully integrated energy company was well-summarized in the presentation Leo Denault made to Wall Street analysts this May. He explained that “under the watchful eye of our regulators, we can invest in any functional group that makes sense for our customers” and offered these examples:
New generator installations combined with new transmission infrastructure will provide more-efficient and accessible electricity for many years to come.
Additional investments beyond 2022 will replace pre-1985 power generation with a mix of traditional forms of generation, renewable energy and localized solutions. As the cost of renewable energy options continues to decline and performance continues to improve, we expect our renewable energy portfolio to grow.
With the support of our regulators, Entergy will continue to make investments in building the most robust power grid and we will do so responsibly as an industry leader of being a good steward of the environment.
In 2001, Entergy was the first energy company in the United States to voluntarily commit to curbing its carbon emissions. Since then, we have operated as one of the cleanest and most efficient power-generating fleets in the country.
We’ve extended our carbon-reduction commitment twice, most recently with our Environment 2020 pledge to reduce our carbon footprint to 20 percent below year 2000 levels through 2020, and we’re on target to meet that goal.
New technologies are giving Entergy unprecedented potential for helping our customers succeed. One of the most exciting advancements we’re deploying to customers through 2021 is our Advanced Meter Infrastructure, or AMI. Our customers will begin benefiting from the operational efficiencies these smart meters enable the moment they are installed.
Smart metering will allow customers to track their daily energy usage, giving them more control and more personalization options to manage their electricity usage and help keep their energy costs low.
We’re already working on advancements that extend beyond our five-year plan. We’ve identified approximately $50 billion worth of new technology that will help us build a smarter energy infrastructure that will offer more functionality, more information and more data.
This new era of rapid technological change, that offers us new tools and information to increase efficiencies in the services we provide while delivering more control to our customers, is the most exciting time in my career.
I encourage any business interested in expanding in or moving to Entergy’s four-state service region to contact our team today and learn about the great benefits of a partnership with Entergy.
Advanced Materials, Agribusiness, Automotive Manufacturing, Chemical Products, Data Centers, Distribution and Warehousing, Energy Services & Manufacturing, Food Processing, Metal Fabrication, Primary Metals, Wood and Paper Products
Paul Hinnenkamp serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Entergy. He is responsible for executive oversight of safety and human performance, fossil generation, transmission, system planning, capital projects management and compliance with North American Electric Reliability Corporation Critical Infrastructure Protection standards. Hinnenkamp brought more than 17 years of nuclear industry experience when he joined the company in 2001.
