ENTERGY
The Great Mississippi Shell Game
The following is the transcript from Kelley Williams’ presentation at the Sept. 25 Public Service Commission’s Summit on Data Centers.
I’m glad to be here and I appreciate the opportunity to talk about being fooled. I don’t do this every day so I can’t wing it, but I want to be careful that what I tell you will stand up to cross-examination and spin and rebuttal. So I’m going to go slow and we’ll try to be precise and accurate.
Read MoreBigger Pie Forum raises red flags on Amazon Web Services deal with the state
Bigger Pie Forum’s Kelley Williams speaks with Courtney Ann Jackson on this important story. Will consumer rates rise due to increased demands from Amazon’s Data Center? According to our research, the answer is yes. See the story on WLBT3’s website
Read MoreGeorgia’s PSC is in the game. Mississippi’s been benched.
The Public Service Commission’s (PSC’s) job is to protect small customers from big monopolies. Entergy Mississippi is part of Entergy Corporation. It’s a big electricity monopoly with utility subs in four states. It’s a government granted and government protected monopoly.
Read MoreMini Mills, DeepSeek, and Amazon’s Data Centers
In 1969, Nucor opened its first mini steel mill in Darlington, SC. Its small electric furnaces produced steel from scrap cheaper and faster than the big integrated mills’ blast furnaces could from iron ore. Nucor disrupted the steel industry. Today, it’s the largest and most diversified steel company in North America, with a $45 billion market cap. Mini mills now account for 70% of all steel produced in the U.S. Former industry giant U.S. Steel has only two integrated mills left, a market cap of $8 billion, and is seeking to be acquired. Sic transit gloria.
Read MoreUnder the Bus
You might think the Governor and the Legislature threw Entergy Mississippi’s 461,000 customers under the bus as a sacrifice to the Economic Development Gods when they exempted the Amazon project from PSC oversight.
Read MoreTwo Data Centers for Mississippi
There are over 10,000 data centers in the United States. But no big ones in Mississippi. That’s about to change – thanks to Amazon Web Services (AWS) and a package of goodies from the Governor and the MS Legislature. AWS will build two hyperscale data centers here. The first one will be in Madison County. AWS will invest $10 billion.
Read MoreHow Are Hospitals and Electric Utilities Alike?
Both are regulated monopolies. Government monopolies. Patients and customers are denied the benefits of competition. Patients have fewer choices and get government medicine. Customers get more expensive and less reliable electricity.
Read MoreDo You Want Your Electricity On or Green?
Solar’s intermittency is a problem for the grid that connects plants that generate electricity and customers that use it. The grid doesn’t store electricity. So the customer’s demand for electricity must be in balance with the supply of electricity from the plants that generate it. Otherwise, the grid destabilizes and bad things happen (e.g., rolling brownouts, blackouts, and even grid failure).
Read MoreShould Entergy’s Customers Pay More for Less?
Entergy Mississippi is an electric utility. It has a legal monopoly in 45 counties with almost 400,000 residential customers (households). It is regulated by the Mississippi Public Service Commission (PSC). The PSC has allowed Entergy to increase rates for these customers 32% over the last three years. Why? Should customers pay even more for less?
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