LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — Entergy’s most recent application to build a new power plant in Jefferson County has been met with resistance by the attorney general’s office and general staff of the Arkansas Public Service Commission.
Officials asked the commission earlier this month to deny Entergy’s application for its planned Jefferson Power Station, a natural gas-fired facility that would generate over 750 megawatts of electricity.
Entergy plans to construct the facility adjacent to its existing White Bluff Power Plant.
Energy consultant Scott Norwood, who testified on behalf of the attorney general’s office, expressed concerns about the potentially high cost of the project.
He questioned whether Entergy had evaluated the cheaper alternative of converting the coalfired White Bluff plant to burn natural gas.
In his September 5 testimony in a Public Service Commission filing, Norwood said “[Entergy Arkansas, LLC] (EAL) has not demonstrated that the cost of the [Jefferson Power Station] is reasonable or that the project is the best available resource for meeting EAL’s system capacity need in 2030.”
Despite concerns about what he called “deficiencies” in the application, Norwood did agree that Entergy has proved that there is a need for the power that Jefferson Power Station would generate.
Meanwhile, Entergy says it has wide support from Arkansas lawmakers for the proposed power plant.
The utility says Norwood’s critique of its application has been blown out of proportion by certain media outlets and told Channel 7 that it is all part of the normal regulatory process.
“The application has not been denied. The regulatory proceeding is ongoing,” said Ventrell Thompson, vice president of customer service for Entergy Arkansas, told KATV.
“This is a back and forth where there is additional information that is sought out and we’re going to provide that information to make sure that they have all the information that they need to make a decision that this is in the public interest for our customers.”
Entergy hopes to be able to start construction on the Jefferson Power Station next year and begin operating it in 2029.