Entergy Arkansas Announces Major Infrastructure Investments to Support Growth and Keep Rates Low

Entergy Arkansas has filed its annual strategic investment update with the Arkansas Public Service Commission under the Generating Arkansas Jobs Act rider, outlining continued investments in generation and transmission infrastructure to support the state’s growth while also proposing direct bill credits tied to federal nuclear tax benefits to help reduce the impact to customers’ bills. These power generation investments provide broad benefits for Arkansans, including a more reliable grid, long-term bill savings and new job opportunities.

Key investments for customers included in this year’s filing are:

• Ironwood Power Station – 450 MW of power from the new Ironwood Power Station in Hot Spring County
• Jefferson Power Station – 750 MW of power from the new Jefferson Power Station in Jefferson County
• Arkansas Cypress Solar and Battery – 600 MW of solar power and 350 MW of battery storage in Jefferson County
• Associated transmission upgrades for these announced projects

These investments are designed to benefit customers by delivering reliabily and affordability. Adding modern, fuel-efficient resources will lead to energy savings for customers, meaning more electricity can be generated at a lower cost. The projects will also create approximately 1,860 direct jobs as well as significantly more indirect jobs during construction, 46 long-term permanent jobs and generate more than $105 million in new local and state tax revenue by 2030 to support local communities.

“Arkansas is growing, and our electric system must grow with it,” said Laura Landreaux, president and CEO of Entergy Arkansas. “The Generating Arkansas Jobs Act allows us to build the infrastructure needed to support new growth, more job creation and new investments in Arkansas communities while keeping power affordable and reliable. In turn, this allows Entergy Arkansas to attract new large customers that will pay their fair share and put downward pressure on rates. Through these efforts, Entergy Arkansas continues to keep rates low for customers, as shown by its recent rate review with an overall change of less than 2%.”

Arkansas recently ranked as the fastest-growing state economy in America for two quarters in a row and the number one state for inbound movers. The state is 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, we are acting now to build the next generation of power sources to support our state’s growth and serve our customers while keeping rates affordable.

The annual filing updates the company’s Generating Arkansas Jobs Act rider, a rate schedule that allows cost recovery for commission-approved infrastructure investments needed to support growth from new customers and existing customers. Established as part of the Generating Arkansas Jobs Act of 2025, the rider allows Entergy Arkansas to recover the financing costs associated with building new infrastructure annually. The end result is manageable annual rate changes versus a single large increase at the end of a project, resulting in significant long-term savings for customers over the life of the asset. The company will file the update around March 1 each year, with approved changes taking effect in June billing.

Nuclear Production Tax Credits

At the same time Entergy Arkansas is investing in infrastructure, it is taking measures to find offsets to customer costs, including securing available federal nuclear production tax credits.

The federal Inflation Reduction Act created production tax credits for electricity generated by existing nuclear plants. Entergy Arkansas qualified for those credits and monetized its 2024 nuclear production tax credits in 2025, allowing the company to begin flowing their value to customers immediately rather than waiting to apply them against future tax liability.

The proceeds from that monetization will be returned to customers through the proposed nuclear production tax credit, which, pending approval, would become effective later this year. The flow-through mechanism proposed by Entergy Arkansas also includes protections for customers to address any future adjustments that may be made in the final federal review of the credits, which could continue through approximately 2030.

Balancing Reliability, Growth and Affordability

The Generating Arkansas Jobs Act rider will help Entergy Arkansas deliver on its Next Generation Arkansas vision to support population growth, business expansion and major economic development as industries like technology, lithium, steel, manufacturing, aerospace, defense and forestry look to locate in Arkansas.

The Generating Arkansas Jobs Act rider and the proposed nuclear production tax credits are intended to work in tandem, enabling Arkansas to compete for new investment and job creation while helping manage costs to customers.

For a typical residential customer using 1,000 kWh per month, the 2026 Generating Arkansas Jobs Act rider update would result in an estimated $5.77 monthly increase (approximately 4.17%), primarily reflecting reliability and capacity investments needed to serve customer growth.

When combined, the rider and the tax credit would lead to a net bill increase of $4.22 (approximately 3%) for a residential customer using 1,000 kWh per month. This is due to an estimated $1.55 monthly bill decrease (approximately 1.14%) from the nuclear production tax credit. When using the rider, state law includes a customer protection provision requiring Entergy Arkansas’s overall rates to remain at least 10% below the national average across all customer types. Currently, rates are approximately 22% below the national average.

The filing is now subject to review by the Arkansas Public Service Commission.