ENTERGY CORP /DE/ Q2 FY26 earnings call ETR

Entergy highlighted its differentiated growth story, driven by macro trends, particularly from the technology sector. The company continues to see 7-12 GW of hyperscale data center potential and 3-5 GW of interest from traditional industrial segments in its pipeline. The 'Fair Share Plus' pledge ensures data centers pay the full cost to serve them and their fair share of fixed costs, with $7 billion in customer bill benefits expected from agreements signed to date. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signed an executive order consistent with this pledge, requiring new data centers to provide customer benefits and grid enhancements to qualify for state sales tax exemptions.

The company reported minor impacts from two tropical storms this year, with nominal restoration costs. Entergy Louisiana initiated a Phase 1 accelerated resilience program in St. Bernard Parish, reinforcing 640 distribution and transmission poles to withstand 150 mph winds. The self-healing network program, with over 400 networks in service, has avoided more than 700,000 customer interruptions and 80 million outage minutes since 2021. Entergy plans to file for a 'Phase Ia' accelerated resilience investment in Louisiana in Q3 FY26, an intermediate plan to continue improvements and maintain workforce continuity while managing customer affordability. Entergy Texas also secured a $200 million Texas Energy Fund grant, bringing its accelerated resilience plan to $337 million.

River Bend Station was recognized for 40 years of service, providing clean, reliable power. Entergy's nuclear team received four Top Innovative Practice Awards from the Nuclear Energy Institute. One notable project involved a first-of-a-kind replacement of the reactor vessel head through the containment hatch at ANO, completed ahead of schedule on April 30, supporting long-term operations and realizing operational and affordability benefits for customers.

Entergy Texas updated its distribution cost recovery factor (DCRF) and received approval for its first-ever capacity cost recovery rider. Entergy Arkansas implemented new rates for the Generating Arkansas Jobs Act rider and filed its 2025 FRP historical netting adjustment, reflecting a rate reduction for customers. Entergy Mississippi's annual FRP filing was approved with no rate change. Entergy Louisiana and Entergy New Orleans filed their annual FRPs, expecting new rates in September, and also filed to extend their current FRPs for one and four years, respectively. Progress continues on the EVAS filing for Meta, the Arkansas rate case, and the Cottonwood acquisition.

The Gulf South corridor is experiencing a massive construction and manufacturing boom, with GDP and nonfarm payrolls at 20-year highs and growing population. Northeast Arkansas is seeing ancillary business investments supporting the steel industry, while Richland Parish, Louisiana, teachers are receiving bonuses up to $50,000 due to Meta's data center investments. A circuit breaker manufacturing facility in Mississippi is expanding, and Southeast Texas is benefiting from new college and workforce development programs for the LNG industry. Entergy was recognized as an honor of The Civic 50 and the utilities sector leader for its community-minded efforts.