PR Newswire
“Next Generation Arkansas”
is a customer-focused, employee-led initiative to provide power that does even more for Arkansas today and tomorrow
LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Dec. 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Entergy Arkansas yesterday announced Next Generation Arkansas, the company’s comprehensive plan to provide electricity that does more for Arkansas by strengthening reliability, expanding energy supply, driving economic growth and keeping power affordable for all customers. The company, and its more than 2,800 employees, are focusing the plan and their efforts in the coming years on helping keep the state and its customers out in front of the emerging electric future developing in the U.S. and globally.
“Next Generation Arkansas is about preparing our state for what’s ahead. By strengthening the grid, adding new generation and modernizing how we deliver power, we’re making the system more reliable and more affordable while also building a system that enables unprecedented growth over the long term,” said Laura Landreaux, Entergy Arkansas president and CEO. “These investments help prevent outages, support new jobs and ensure that Arkansas families and businesses continue to benefit from low, predictable electricity costs as our state grows.”
Next Generation Arkansas is a multi-faceted plan that includes input from state and local leaders and Entergy Arkansas customers across the state to ensure transparency, accountability and open dialogue about affordability and how to best meet their needs. The plan represents the company’s response to several power-related issues facing the state:
- Recent state growth requiring more power to serve customers;
- More extreme weather in recent years affecting customer reliability;
- Increasing state competitiveness for job-creating projects; and
- Cost pressures requiring new approaches to keep rates low for customers.
To meet this demand, Next Generation Arkansas has been built around four core priorities, detailed below.
1. Better power for Arkansas: Fewer outages, faster repairs
Entergy Arkansas is launching one of the most ambitious reliability improvement plans in recent history designed to make the power grid stronger and more reliable with an initial goal to reduce power outages by at least 30% over the coming years.
- In addition to increasing vegetation investments that will keep power lines clear, the company is performing reliability improvement projects across the state and deploying new, advanced technology tools that will help spot problems faster, prevent challenges and improve power quality for decades to come.
- The economic growth the company is helping enable is adding new large customers to the grid that helps offset the costs of these improvements for existing customers.
2. More power for Arkansas: Power when and where needed to meet soaring demand
Arkansas was recently ranked the fastest-growing state economy in America for two quarters in a row, the No. 1 state for inbound movers, and the state with the lowest cost of living. Arkansas is already expected to see more than a 35% increase in power needs in the next five years, and with projections showing that figure could more than double, Entergy Arkansas is acting now to build the next generation of power sources to support the state’s growth and serve its customers while keeping rates affordable.
To do this, Entergy Arkansas plans to invest in approximately 2,600 MW of new, more fuel-efficient generation resources and repower approximately 1,600 MW of existing generation in the next five years pending approval from the Arkansas Public Service Commission, including:
- Investing in new, modern natural gas plants to increase fuel efficiency by up to 40%, which lowers fuel charges on customer bills:
- 450 MW at the new Ironwood Power Station natural gas plant in Hot Spring County (2028).
- 750 MW at the new Jefferson Power Station natural gas plant in Jefferson County (2029).
- 600 MW of solar + 350 MW of battery storage at the Arkansas Cypress facility in Jefferson County (2028), which will provide clean, renewable power that lowers fuel charges on customer bills.
- Retrofitting coal-fired generators to burn natural gas and extend their lives.
- Investing in upgrades at existing natural gas facilities to increase output more than 150 MW.
- Renewing the license to generate 1,800 MW of clean, reliable 24/7 energy produced by the Arkansas Nuclear One power plant and investing in new, more efficient plant equipment that increases the output of the facility.
These investments will ensure Arkansas has a balanced, more cost-efficient, “all-of-the-above” energy mix needed to support homes, businesses and new industries.
3. Job power for Arkansas: Helping the state recruit more and better jobs
Arkansas offers a strong pro-business environment, and over the past five years, Entergy Arkansas has partnered with state and community leaders to drive the creation of more than 7,500 jobs and over $13 billion in capital investments. As electricity becomes a key factor in securing new business, the state must continue delivering the power infrastructure and site development needed to compete. When structured strategically, these private investments not only generate tax revenue and quality jobs, but also provide broader benefits for Arkansans, including bill savings and a more reliable grid. The company plans to do this by:
- Using the blueprint created by the Generating Arkansas Jobs Act of 2025 to work at the speed needed to compete nationally for once-in-a-generation tech and industrial projects.
- Bolstering local job impact – Arkansas building Arkansas – by using local contractors and companies around the state whenever possible, reinvesting growth back into our communities through new jobs, state and local tax revenue, and indirect economic impact.
- Creating economic impact while implementing the plan – for example, the development of the Ironwood, Jefferson Power Station and Arkansas Cypress power plants would create approximately 1,860 direct jobs as well as significantly more indirect jobs during construction, provide 46 permanent jobs during operation, and that will generate more than $105 million in new local and state tax revenue by 2030.
“We want to commend state leaders for passing the Generating Jobs Act of 2025, which is a landmark legislation and shows what’s possible when Arkansas sets a bold vision for its future, and the Arkansas Public Service Commission for approving the new associated rider,” Landreaux said. “Because of the state’s leadership, Arkansas has the tools to compete for once-in-a-generation opportunities. We are committed to delivering a power system that attracts new jobs, strengthens communities, and keeps our state moving forward for the next generation of Arkansans.”
4. Affordable power for Arkansas: Keeping rates low and predictable
Entergy Arkansas’s rates remain 22% below the national average, and the company plans to continue finding ways to reduce costs, increase efficiency, and offer innovative bill solutions to keep power affordable for all customers, even as the company invests in the state’s growth including:
- Leveraging new policies to help build the power system Arkansas needs while keeping rate stable and predictable.
- Using new technologies to help manage the grid and prevent outages at less cost to customers.
- Providing customers with ways to lower their bills with new rate structures and by helping them access resources like free home energy checkups, free and discounted energy-saving products, and rebates on energy-efficient equipment purchases.
- Continuing to recruit new large industrial customers to help spread the cost of maintaining and upgrading the power grid across a larger customer base and reduce the burden on residents and small businesses.
- Working with new large customer partners to scale and accelerate energy affordability initiatives and encourage others to provide community support, as Google has with its $25 million Energy Impact Fund.
All of these efforts will be managed with transparency for customers and with direct oversight from the Arkansas Public Service Commission, Landreaux said.
“Our 2,800 Entergy employees in Arkansas and I understand that this is some of the most important work of our careers, and we feel it personally because we’re Arkansans too,” Landreaux said. “We’re proud to help deliver better power, more jobs and a brighter future for our fellow Arkansans.”
About Entergy Arkansas
Entergy Arkansas provides electricity to approximately 735,000 customers in 63 counties. Entergy Arkansas is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR). Entergy produces, transmits and distributes electricity to power life for 3 million customers through our operating companies in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. We’re investing for growth and improved reliability and resilience of our energy system while working to keep energy rates affordable for our customers. We’re also investing in cleaner energy generation like modern natural gas, nuclear and renewable energy. A nationally recognized leader in sustainability and corporate citizenship, we deliver more than $100 million in economic benefits each year to the communities we serve through philanthropy, volunteerism and advocacy. Entergy is a Fortune 500 company headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, and has approximately 12,000 employees. Learn more at EntergyArkansas.com and connect with @EntergyARK on social media.
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SOURCE Entergy Corporation
