The Public Utility Commission of Texas has approved Phase I of Entergy Texas’ Texas Future Ready Resiliency Plan.
The first phase of the company’s comprehensive resiliency plan will be implemented over a roughly three-year period and includes $137 million in strategic projects to strengthen the Southeast Texas power grid, reduce storm-related outages, and save customers millions in restoration costs over the coming decades. The improvements are expected to reduce outage times by an estimated 1 billion minutes after severe weather events, over the next 50 years.
The first phase of the Texas Future Ready Resiliency Plan will focus on key infrastructure upgrades, including:
- Stronger distribution lines: Upgrading local distribution and main feeder lines to higher storm-resilient standards.
- Stronger transmission lines: Rebuilding high-voltage lines and poles to withstand hurricane-force winds.
- Undergrounding select lines: Moving overhead lines underground in targeted areas.
Additionally, Entergy Texas plans to look for funding from the Texas Energy Fund to implement additional projects at no cost to customers and explore new financing options like storm securitization to deliver long-term savings.
The company recently secured $54 million in federal funding through the Department of Energy’s Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships program to bolster grid reliability in Port Arthur, a coastal community vulnerable to storms. A portion of the funds will offset the cost of Phase I projects too.
While resiliency is a key component of Entergy Texas’ Southeast Texas Energy Plan (also known as STEP Ahead), the six-step strategy aims to add 1,600 MW of new generation capacity by 2028, maintain affordable rates, and meet the region’s rapidly growing energy needs with reliability and resilience at the forefront.
