Entergy : to Power PennTex Facility in North Louisiana

New natural gas plant will add up to 25 megawatts of peak demand by 2015

BATON ROUGE, La. - Entergy Louisiana, LLC signed a 10-year commercial and contractual agreement with PennTex North Louisiana, LLC to supply up to 25 megawatts of electric power to PennTex's Lincoln Parish plant near Arcadia, La., beginning in March 2015.

In March 2014, PennTex announced plans to construct a natural gas processing plant at a new site in Lincoln Parish, which is expected to be completed and operational by March 2015. Once commercially operational, the new facility will process natural gas to remove natural gas liquids and deliver the residue gas to the intrastate and interstate pipeline systems.  

"Over the past several years in particular, Entergy has been working more closely than ever with public and private partners and key companies like PennTex to custom-fit electric power solutions to business and industry needs," said Phillip R. May, president and chief executive officer of Entergy's Louisiana utility companies. "This concerted focus is an important part of our commitment to help attract, retain and expand new business and investment in the state, creating long-term opportunities for companies as well as the communities in which they operate."

As a strategic joint venture between PennTex and producers in the northern part of the state, PennTex NLA aims to develop midstream infrastructure in support of growing production from its partners and other producers in the area. PennTex is in discussions with producers regarding additional expansions to its facilities as well as additional midstream services to support regional producers.

"Due to Entergy's reliable service and competitive Natural Gas Pipeline Compression Service rate schedule, we elected to install electric motors for the plant's gas compression units," said Tommy Stone, senior vice president, chief engineering and operations officer at PennTex Midstream Partners. "These electric motors will significantly reduce the environmental impact of the compressor units, from both an air-quality and noise perspective."

Entergy Corporation once again was recognized as one of the top 10 utilities in North America by Site Selection magazine's September 2013 issue for its work to support economic development. In its list of economic development highlights from the previous year, Site Selection credited Entergy's work in helping to identify eight certified sites in partnership with Louisiana Economic Development. New civil engineering services also have made a great impact on the team's level of service and quality of site evaluation.

Entergy's Louisiana utility companies provide electric service to more than one million customers through the operating companies Entergy Louisiana, LLC and Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, L.L.C. and natural gas service to nearly 93,000 customers in the greater Baton Rouge area through Entergy Gulf States Louisiana. With operations in southern, central and northeastern Louisiana, the companies are subsidiaries of Entergy Corporation.

Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, including more than 10,000 megawatts of nuclear power, making it one of the nation's leading nuclear generators. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.8 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $11 billion and approximately 14,000 employees.

Based in Houston, Tex., PennTex was founded by Thomas F. Karam, Robert O. Bond, and Steven R. Jones as a full service, multiplatform company dedicated to creating a leading energy logistics business through strategic partnerships with its customers. PennTex senior management has over 150 years of collective experience constructing and operating midstream facilities across North America. NGP has committed substantial equity capital to support PennTex's growth into a leading midstream business in North America.