Entergy is working on a significant number of power projects, mainly gas-fired, which represent nearly a third of the nearly 28 GW in the fast-track interconnection queue of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO). This information comes from an analysis of the latest list released on Wednesday.
Approximately 70% of Entergy’s new capacity additions, which span Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, are aimed at supporting planned data center complexes, as noted in MISO’s summary of projects in its Expedited Resource Addition Study (ERAS).
The company anticipates that its retail sales will rise by 8.5% annually through 2030, driven in part by industrial growth, according to its earnings presentation from April 29. Entergy plans to invest around $27 billion in new generation and about $7 billion in renewable sources and storage solutions through 2029.
In MISO’s review, Entergy’s projects account for nearly 9 GW in requested network interconnection. Following Entergy are Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) with about 5 GW, and Alliant Energy with around 3.3 GW—these two represent a combined 31% of the total.
Overall, the gas-fired network interconnection capacity in the ERAS review totals around 20.3 GW, making up about 72% of the total. In comparison, battery, solar, and wind capacities represent 4.3 GW, 2.3 GW, and 1.2 GW, respectively.
MISO has begun the fourth cycle of its ERAS program, which involves interconnection reviews for around 3.7 GW of planned gas-fired, solar, and storage capacity. “ERAS continues to deliver meaningful progress by moving viable projects forward with greater speed,” said Aubrey Johnson, MISO’s vice president of system planning and competitive transmission. “Each cycle reinforces its value as part of a coordinated strategy to meet evolving system needs.”
In total, MISO has accepted or is reviewing 58 projects amounting to almost 28 GW under the ERAS framework, which aims to quickly bring power supplies online to meet urgent grid requirements. This process allows eligible planned resources to bypass traditional interconnection queue reviews.
Under ERAS, MISO studies up to 15 projects each quarter on a first-come, first-served basis, with an aim to review up to 68 projects before the program concludes on August 31, 2027. To date, 25 projects totaling about 11 GW have secured generator interconnection agreements, while another 15 projects amounting to 8 GW are nearing completion. These completed projects are expected to begin operations in 2027 or 2028, according to MISO.