Bigger Pie Forum Chairman Kelly Williams authored this post.
“Delta Dawn, what’s that flower you have on?
Could it be a faded rose from days gone by?
And did I hear you say he was meeting you here today
To take you to that Mansion in the sky?”
Entergy’s small customers are faded roses from days gone by. They were once loved — when
they were the source of Entergy’s growth. When they justified Entergy’s spending and its 10%
guaranteed profit. When electricity demand grew at less than a half percent per year. When
Entergy promoted “Live Better Electrically” and financed new appliances to increase demand.
When the Public Service Commission actually had authority to regulate Entergy’s spending.
And when it kept customer rates and Entergy’s profits fair and reasonable.
Entergy and its predecessors’ roots go back over a hundred years. (Remember Reddy
Kilowatt?) Entergy and other investor owned utilities (IOU’s) grew slowly and steadily as the
economy and population grew. IOU’s needed and courted small customers. And treated them
— like valued customers.
Then in the early 2000’s along came hyper-scale data centers with huge power demands
greater than hundreds of thousands of small customers. They tripled demand growth for
electricity and justified IOU’s massive spending with guaranteed 10%+ profits. And IOU’s
became even more favored by pension funds and institutional investors — fast growing
monopolies with guaranteed returns.
So data centers became IOU’s new love. Small customers were jilted like Delta Dawn. And
were used (pimped) to help pay for IOU system upgrades for Data Centers. Small customers
rates went up as a result —the data center effect.
Virginia has more hyper-scale data centers than any other state. Its residential rates have gone
up 29% in the last four years. They are expected to double by 2030. IOU’s profits and market
values jumped in states with hyper-scale data centers (Virginia, Texas, Georgia, Ohio, and
others).
But not in Mississippi — until along came Amazon and its secret deal with Entergy. Mississippi
was late to the data center game. It wasn’t nationally ranked. It wasn’t even recognized. It was
last. It didn’t have game. It had to go for a Hail Mary. It found one: sideline the PSC. It was the
first state to do that. It is the only state to do that.
It jumped in the rankings. Entergy and Amazon could play against small customers without
officials. Entergy could run up the data center effect score with no mercy rule.
Legislators changed the rules to allow illegal gimmick plays like automatic certificates of
necessity for spending. Like automatic prudence if Entergy’s accountants record its spending
for Amazon. Like no bid contracts for Entergy’s favored suppliers and vendors with small
customers to pay for everything. Like no caps on rate increases for small customers. Like
putting spending for projects in the rate base before they work and even if they never work.
So how does the data center effect work? Imagine data centers as mega mansions in Entergy
Mississippi’s monopoly service area with 500,000 residential and small business customers (a
million people). Many live in dilapidated houses because they can’t afford upkeep. Or higher
electric rates. Then Entergy raises all their rates to help pay for electricity for the mansions —
which use more electricity than all of them combined.
That’s the data center effect. But it’s on steroids when there’s no PSC to throw flags on
Entergy’s illegal spending for power plants and infrastructure for the mansions.
How did Mississippi get away with sidelining the PSC? Politicians styled the secret deal as an
Economic Development Project. They said Entergy is in the Economic Development business
— not in the regulated utility business. The Legislature passed Senate Bill 2001. It says
economic development is more important than keeping customers rates and Entergy’s profits
fair and reasonable. The bill sidelines the PSC to be sure it gets the message.
The Governor and those who benefit from the the secret Entergy-Amazon data centers deal say
it’s good for the state — never-mind that it will cause higher residential and small business rates
for over a million people including many who struggle just to get by.
They also say the secret deal will make the grid more “resilient” (i.e. stable) and resistant to
blackouts due to Amazon’s mandates for more solar power. Unreliable (intermittent) solar
power makes the grid stronger and more reliable? That’s like saying more injury-prone
benchwarmers make your team stronger. Imagine: “Close game. Quarterback goes down. Back
up? He’s hurt. Game over. Lights out.”
Small customers jilted. Pretty and courted once. Now just faded roses from days gone by.
“In her younger days, they called her Delta Dawn
Prettiest woman you ever laid eves on
Then a man of low degree stood by her side
Promised he’d take her for his bride …”
And lied.
(Alex Harvey wrote Delta Dawn about his Mother. She was from the Mississippi Delta. She had
a hard life. He said she lived it like she had a suitcase in her hand — and no place to put it
down.)
Kelley Williams
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9 comments:
Mr. Williams - Please name the legislators responsible for this travesty.
This piece nails it! This makes my blood boil. A bunch of fake capitalists at the Capitol!
Fake capitalists? How about let Entergy do whatever it thinks best for its shareholders. Don’t like it? Invent something better. Ask AT&T. It happens.
"Live Better Electrically" was a slogan used by Mississippi Power & Light Company long before Entergy existed in Mississippi.
I remember Haley Fisakerly (I believe on Supertalk) being asked if these data center deals would increase customer rates to pay for the experiment. He played an end around and said, "Well, no, not directly, but of course we will always have increases for necessary expenses, repairs, things wear out, you know and increases are just normally required"....quoting loosely.
MS GOP is as corrupt as it gets. So many hands were greased under the table to make all this happen, all at the expense of the citizens that put them there. And they will vote them right back in, the defunding of course education and critical thinking has paid off.
I heard Fisackerly's interview on SuperTalk. I needed a shower when the segments ended. Look for a 29% increase in a couple of years.
Yes, yes. This is the way it works. I’m glad there are some waking up to reality. Largest solar plant in USA being dismantled now. The company that owned it ran out of government subsidies so the business model no longer worked (12 years of subsidies and collapse of business in 14 years). If it can’t stand alone financially but leans on government subsidies, once the government support runs out or no longer fits, the project files for bankruptcy. Poor MS is late in game and our rulers have bad FOMO so we get the stuff others don’t want. Hence why we sell out - our people and land are labeled cheap in comparison to the rest of the world.
8:20 PM, we must vote Republicans back in when the choice is between them and Democrats.
Pro-crime/pro-criminal.
Defund/abolish the police.
Perversion of young innocent children.
Boys beating up on girls in sports.
Tax dollars for illegals for housing etc. while hard working American citizens that deal with inflated home prices and rents due to Bidens pro-inflation give aways that now have to be paid for.
DEI.
Retard climate policies.
Wanting to take away the rights of law abiders to defend themselves while at the same time using soft on crime pro-lawlessness policies to create chaos.
Democrats have become the party of sheer evil. And unless this changes, we’re stuck with the “corrupt” MS GOP (assuming Kelley Williams is telling us the truth re: Entergy).
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