Powering Growth: Entergy's Robust Start to 2025
Entergy Corporation, a leading energy company in the Gulf South region, has kicked off the year with impressive progress towards its near- and long-term objectives. In its recent Q1 2025 earnings conference call, Chairman and CEO Drew Marsh highlighted the company's strong start to the year, driven by key updates that support customer growth.
Notably, Entergy reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.82 for the first quarter, placing it on track for its 2025 guidance. This achievement underscores the company's solid positioning to attain its greater than 8% adjusted earnings per share compound annual growth rate for the outlook period. The robust financial results demonstrate Entergy's commitment to creating value for all stakeholders, including customers, employees, communities, and owners.
One of the significant factors driving industrial sales growth is the increasing visibility into customer demand. Since the last call, three major announcements have been made by large customers, solidifying the region's attractiveness as an investment destination. Hyundai Motor Group announced a $5.8 billion investment in Hyundai Steel, a manufacturing facility with economic growth potential in Ascension Parish, Louisiana. In early April, CF Industries reached its final investment decision on a low-carbon blue ammonia facility valued at $4 billion, located near the Hyundai Steel project.
Just today, Woodside announced that it has finalized its investment decision for a $17.5 billion LNG facility in Coastal Louisiana. These projects are expected to come online in 2028 and 2029, with significant local investments, workforce development, and substantial growth benefits for nearby communities. As businesses continue to consider investing in the U.S., Entergy's Gulf South region remains an attractive option due to its low power costs, robust energy infrastructure, diverse energy sources, business-friendly environment, proven workforce, and welcoming communities.
Another notable area of focus is data centers, which have become a more recent addition to Entergy's large customer portfolio. The company reports strong interest from hyperscale developers regarding the incredible opportunity in the region. As such, its data center pipeline remains robust, with a capacity range of 5-10 gigawatts. This momentum underscores the importance of the Gulf South as a hub for energy-intensive industries.
On the operational front, Entergy is executing on its capital plan to support this strong customer growth, improved reliability, and resilience. Progress has been made in the Orange County Advanced power station, which is approximately 70% complete with no safety incidents reported during over 1 million man-hours worked. The project remains on schedule and budget for an in-service date by summer next year.
Additionally, the company continues to explore potential capacity increases at its existing combined cycle natural gas facilities, totaling nearly 500 megawatts. For nuclear operations, Entergy completed the spring refueling outage at River Bend on schedule and conducted extensive work on the main generator to support reliable long-term operations. The Waterford 3 refueling outage is underway, with planned work aimed at replacing low-pressure turbine rotors and improving efficiency.
