Integrated energy company Entergy Corporation (ETR) announced that its unit Entergy Louisiana, LLC has sought permission from the Louisiana Public Service Commission for approval to build a new, 550-megawatt (MW) natural gas unit at its existing Ninemile Point plant in Westwego, Louisiana.
Entergy is planning to increase its generation capacity from the Ninemile plant to cater to the increasing demand for electricity in that region. Moreover, the technology used to create the gas turbine unit, Ninemile 6, will produce clean and reliable power.
If approved by the commission the construction of this project will start in 2012 and the project is expected to cost $721 million. Ninemile 6 is scheduled to enter commercial production from mid-2015 and its will be sufficient to replace the loss of generation from Ninemile Units 1 and 2, which were discontinued by the company.
Entergy has been actively increasing its generating capacity over the past decade and has added around 4,200 MW of power, out of which 2,400 MW is considered efficient and clean catering especially to Louisiana customers.
Besides the company’s sustained organic modes of generating green power, it has also resorted to acquisitions to increase its generation capacity. In April this year, the Entergy unit completed the acquisition of Acadia Energy Center Power Block 2 and 50% of the facility’s common assets from Acadia Power Partners LLC for $300 million. The assets include a 580-MW combined-cycle gas-turbine generation plant that would further boost environmentally-friendly green power generation.
The recent financial performance at Entergy Corporation has also been encouraging. The first quarter earnings of the company were $1.38 per share which comfortably surpassed the year-ago figure of $1.33 per share and was marginally ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.37. The company expects its 2011 earnings per share to be in the range of $6.35−$6.85 per share.
The Zacks Consensus Estimates for second-quarter 2011, fiscal year 2011 and fiscal year 2012 are, respectively, $1.64 per share, $6.58 per share and $6.13 per share.
Entergy Corporation currently retains a Zacks #3 Rank (short-term Hold rating). The company competes with American Electric Power Co. Inc. (AEP), CenterPoint Energy Inc. (CNP) and Southern Company (SO), all of which presently retain a Zacks #3 Rank (short-term Hold).
New Orleans, Louisiana based Entergy Corporation along with its subsidiaries engages in electric power production and retail electric distribution operations.
