- Kelley Williams says Entergy’s small customers were jilted like Delta Dawn.
“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 eyes 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.)
