Overview
- Utilities serving new large-load customers can now seek approval without competitive solicitations and without a 10-year service agreement, a state priority confirmation, or pledges to cover at least half of fixed costs.
- Commission staff were ordered to accelerate case processing with a target of bringing filings to a vote within eight months.
- The measure, sponsored by Commissioner Jean‑Paul Coussan, passed 4–1 as Commissioner Davante Lewis and consumer groups warned of potential higher costs for existing ratepayers.
- Minutes after the vote, the commission deferred Lewis’s separate proposal to establish cost-sharing rules, reliability standards, and consumer protections for large-load projects.
- The fast-track move follows major announcements including Meta’s data center, Hyundai’s steel mill, and a newly announced $10 billion Anthropic facility, with Entergy estimating at least $498 million in infrastructure for Hyundai alone.