A Louisiana data center deal reached in March between Entergy and Meta calls for $15 billion in capital investment and accounts for a significant bump in the utility company’s four-year spending plan.
With the Meta deal, Entergy is planning capital expenditures of $57 billion over the next four years, including $27 billion for new generation, the utility company said in its first quarter earnings presentation Wednesday. Rapidly growing power demand, including from hyperscale data centers and other large customers, is driving the need for new resources.
Entergy operates five vertically-integrated utilities in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Its 2026-2029 capital plan is more than 30% higher than what the company announced three months ago in its full-year 2025 earnings report.
Shortly after executing the Meta agreement, Entergy filed an application with the Louisiana Public Service Commission requesting approval for seven new combined cycle units totalling more than 5.2 GW, transmission infrastructure and battery storage facilities, Entergy Chair and CEO Drew Marsh told analysts Wednesday.
But the grid expansion required to meet data center demands will not burden retail customers, he stressed. The Meta deal will provide $2 billion in customer benefits, he said.
Over the next 20 years, Meta committed to provide $140 million for energy efficiency programs, for instance, Marsh said. And Entergy’s Power to Care bill assistance program will get a $60 million influx from Meta, which the utility committed to match.
“The cost of the proposed facilities will be covered by payments from Meta, whether from their tariff or other contributions, yet all customers will realize reliability and resilience benefits and lower fuel costs from these investments,” Marsh said. “We also agreed to pursue another 2.5 GW of renewables and further investigate [carbon capture and storage], nuclear upgrades and new nuclear to support Meta's clean energy goals.”
And Marsh hinted other data center deals could materialize.
“We also continue to receive data center interest within our service area,” he said. “After all agreements signed to date, including the recent agreement with Meta, we still have a pipeline of 7 to 12 gigawatts of potential data center customers.”
Across its territories, Entergy saw “very strong” first quarter retail sales, driven by approximately 15% growth in industrial deliveries, including to data center, primary metals and transportation customers, it said.
Total first quarter retail sales were 30,737 GWh, a 6% increase over the first quarter of 2025 on a weather-adjusted basis, according to a report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Residential sales were 8,057 GWh, down 3.1% on a weather-adjusted basis, the company said. Commercial sales were 6,230 GWh, down about 0.5% from the same period last year using the same accounting. Industrial sales jumped to 15,895 GWh, up 14.9% on a weather-normalized basis.
Entergy has 3.1 million retail customers across its territories, and 24,621 MW of owned and leased generating assets.
Along with $27 billion for new generation, the updated spending plan includes $9 billion for transmission and an $8 billion investment in its distribution system. Another $7 billion will go to renewables and energy storage, according to Entergy’s earnings presentation.
In February, Entergy’s $43 billion spending plan included just $15 billion for new generation. Transmission and distribution investment plans have remained constant.
