THE WOODLANDS, Texas – To better protect the Southeast Texas power grid from extreme weather and improve service reliability, Entergy Texas recently filed an application with the Public Utility Commission of Texas for approval of Phase I of its comprehensive Texas Future Ready Resiliency Plan.
Once approved, the investments included in Phase I are expected to benefit customers by decreasing future storm restoration costs by approximately $129 million and reducing the duration of power outages following significant weather events by 4.5 billion minutes over the next 50 years, a news release said.
Extreme weather has become more frequent and severe in Texas. According to the National Centers for Environmental Information, there have been 179 extreme weather events in Texas from 1980 to June 2024, including hurricanes and winter storms. These extreme events, coupled with an increased dependence on electricity to power homes, businesses, and essential services, underscore the need for an even more resilient electrical grid.
“The increasing frequency and cost of storm restoration, the increasing impact from prolonged outages and recently passed state legislation demonstrate that now is the optimal time to pursue key grid hardening investments,” said Eliecer Viamontes, president and CEO of Entergy Texas. “While Entergy Texas has historically invested in the reliability and resiliency of its generation, transmission, and distribution systems, significant and emerging circumstances support the need to accelerate the pace of these investments. Our comprehensive Resiliency Plan creates stronger communities while managing customer bill impacts.”
Phase I of the company’s Resiliency Plan is a multiyear proposal that includes six key measures to prevent, withstand, and recover from damage imposed by significant storm events.
- Distribution feeder hardening: Rebuilding main feeder lines to a storm-resilient overhead design standard.
- Lateral hardening: Rebuilding neighborhood distribution lines to a storm-resilient overhead design.
- Transmission rebuild: Replacing poles with higher wind-rated structures and equipment on high-voltage lines.
- Lateral undergrounding: Undergrounding select overhead neighborhood lines.
- Substation control house remediation: Hardening substations by upgrading roofs to meet wind standards.
- Targeted vegetation management: Proactive inspections and trimming to mitigate vegetation-related outages and wildfire risks.
According to Entergy, the accelerated hardening projects included in Phase I total a $335 million investment in the Southeast Texas power grid. To minimize the impact on monthly customer bills, Entergy Texas plans to seek $198 million in non-ERCOT grants from the Texas Energy Fund to help finance these projects. The company has also applied for federal dollars under the Department of Energy’s Grid Innovation and Resilience Partnerships program to invest more than $107 million to strengthen the Port Arthur grid, a portion of which would offset the cost of hardening projects included in Phase I. Entergy Texas continues to look for innovative ways to lessen the storm risks and costs for its coastal communities. Another example involves exploring an expedited storm securitization process, which could save customers millions of dollars over the long term compared to traditional financing methods.
Since the early 2000s, Entergy Texas has reportedly been making strategic investments to make the Southeast Texas power grid more resilient. Recent projects include the Palms substation on the Bolivar Peninsula, which is raised on platforms to better withstand potential storm surges, and the replacement of aging power lines and utility poles in the Port Arthur community to withstand weather events as strong as a Category 4 hurricane.
“The City of Port Arthur holds dear the commitment by Entergy Texas in our joint partnership to harden the Southeast Texas power grid and build a more resilient energy future for our community,” said Thurman Bartie, mayor for the City of Port Arthur.
“We are grateful that Entergy Texas is planning for the future and staying a ‘STEP Ahead’ of growing electrical needs in Beaumont,” said Roy West, mayor for the City of Beaumont. “Because of Entergy Texas’ hard work, Beaumont and the entire Southeast Texas area continue to have a bright energy future.”
The accelerated resiliency efforts proposed in Entergy Texas’ Resiliency Plan are a key component of the company’s Southeast Texas Energy Plan, also known as the STEP Ahead plan. This strategic initiative aims to add 1,600 megawatts of generation capacity to the Southeast Texas power grid by 2028 by keeping rates affordable, building more generation, investing in a diverse mix of generation resources, and strengthening the grid to withstand extreme weather.
Source: Entergy Texas
