Earnings Call Transcript
ENTERGY MISSISSIPPI, LLC (EMP)
Earnings Call Transcript - EMP Q2 2024
Operator, Operator
Good morning. My name is Greg, and I will be your conference operator today. I would like to welcome everyone to Entergy’s Second Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. I’d now like to turn the call over to Bill Abler, Vice President of Investor Relations for Entergy Corporation. Bill, the floor is yours.
William Abler, Vice President of Investor Relations
Good morning, and thank you for joining us. We will begin today with comments from Entergy’s Chair and CEO, Drew Marsh, and then Kimberly Fontan, our CFO, will review results. In an effort to accommodate everyone who has questions, we request that each person ask no more than two questions. In today’s call, management will make certain forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, which are set forth in our earnings release, our slide presentation and our SEC filings. Entergy does not assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements. Management will also discuss non-GAAP financial information. Reconciliations to the applicable GAAP measures are included in today’s press release and slide presentation both of which can be found on the Investor Relations section of our website. And now I will turn the call over to Drew.
Andrew Marsh, CEO
Thank you, Bill, and good morning, everyone. I appreciate you joining us on this earnings call day. In June, we hosted our Analyst Day in New Orleans, and I want to thank all of you who attended in person and listened online. We provided a detailed update on our business strategy, discussing the macro drivers behind our unique growth, such as on-shoring, clean energy, electrification, and technology. We emphasized our customer-first approach, which is essential for achieving outcomes that create significant long-term value for all our stakeholders, including our customers, employees, communities, and owners. We continue to progress toward these goals, helping us reach our near and long-term objectives. Starting with our financial results, we are reporting strong quarterly adjusted earnings per share of $1.92. Kimberly will cover the details. The key takeaway is that we are firmly on track to meet our 2024 guidance. Now, moving on to business updates. I am pleased to announce that Entergy Louisiana has reached an agreement in principle with the LPSC staff and other parties regarding its FRP extension. The settlement, pending LPSC approval, also addresses several other open matters, including all FRPs before the 2023 test year. By resolving these issues, Entergy Louisiana will conclude all its outstanding base rate-making proceedings. As part of this settlement, we will provide $184 million in customer credits, which includes our commitment to enhance customer sharing of income tax benefits from the 2016 to 2018 IRS audit. We’re also excited to share that System Energy Resources, or SERI, reached an agreement in principle with the LPSC staff concerning the long-standing litigation at FERC. Once approved, this settlement will significantly resolve major litigation at SERI and reduce ongoing challenges for our stakeholders. These agreements and other commission approvals earlier this year, including the resilience plan and the process to speed up renewable development, give clarity to all our stakeholders and enable Entergy Louisiana and the commission to focus on leveraging significant growth opportunities. We appreciate the hard work of all parties to reach this stage and look forward to collaborating on future endeavors. More details on the Entergy Louisiana settlement will be shared when we file the full settlement agreement in the coming days. We expect the commission to address both matters at its next business and executive meeting on August 14. Hurricane Beryl made landfall in Southeast Texas in early July, affecting about half of our Texas customers. I want to express our gratitude to our customers and community leaders for their understanding and support during restoration. We feel honored to serve them and are continually inspired by how our communities come together in challenging times. Beryl brought high winds that uprooted and damaged many trees, leading to significant grid damage and customer outages. Many trees outside of right-of-ways fell onto our transmission and distribution lines. We applied insights and experiences from past storms to ensure timely, safe, and cost-effective power restoration. Our prior learnings also enhanced our communication strategy, allowing us to provide reliable and timely updates on outages and restoration timelines. We prioritize keeping all stakeholders informed, including customers and state and local officials. As discussed at Analyst Day, when the power goes out, daily activities for our customers and communities are disrupted. Therefore, having a well-prepared operational response combined with clear communication is crucial. I’m proud of our employees for putting our customers first, working diligently to prepare before the storm, and tirelessly restoring power safely afterward. Beryl reaffirmed the importance of resilience, showing us how investments aimed at supporting growth yield benefits across multiple areas. A great example is the Ball of our Peninsula, where we constructed a new elevated substation and installed over 200 new distribution structures designed to modern standards. As anticipated, these assets withstood Beryl, leading to improved performance during the storm and prompt restoration. To further bolster our resilience efforts, Entergy Texas submitted its future-ready resiliency plan, seeking approval for a three-year first phase, estimated at $335 million. To maximize benefits while reducing costs for customers, around $200 million is contingent on a grant from the Texas Energy Fund, with the legislation requiring a commission decision within 180 days of filing. Separately, Entergy New Orleans held a technical conference last week to advance Phase 1 of its plan, with a council decision targeted before year-end. The unique growth story of Entergy was a central theme highlighted at Analyst Day, and we are making significant strides to support growth across our businesses. For example, we organized a Southeast Texas Leadership Summit, gathering over 200 industry, community, and political leaders to discuss collaborative strategies for addressing the region's increasing energy needs. At the summit, we presented our Southeast Texas Energy Plan, which includes additional generation capacity. In line with this plan, Entergy Texas filed a request for a CCN for two new generation resources. Legend Power Station, a 754-megawatt combined cycle combustion turbine to be situated in Port Arthur, is designed for sustainability and long-term viability, featuring carbon capture capability and hydrogen-ready technology. We are engaging with customers to gauge their interest in purchasing the clean attributes from carbon capture. While discussions are still early, customer interest in CCS appears strong. Our request also includes Lone Star Power Station, a 453-megawatt combustion terminal in Cleveland, Texas, which will also be hydrogen-capable. The total investment is projected at about $2.2 billion, encompassing transmission and interconnection costs, as well as financing costs during construction. Both plants are expected to be operational by summer 2028. In furtherance of our step ahead plan, Entergy Texas applied for approval of two owned solar projects stemming from RFPs, with a total capacity addition exceeding 300 megawatts. The first project is expected to come online in 2027 and the second in 2028. The green attributes from these plants will assist in satisfying our customer demands for clean energy. More broadly, clean energy and electrification are critical macro drivers of our growth. Many of our larger customers have clean energy goals, and we are enhancing our clean energy capacity to support those objectives. In early June, we signed a joint development agreement to expedite the advancement of up to 4.5 gigawatts of new Energy-owned solar generation and energy storage projects. Furthermore, the Louisiana PSC approved measures to streamline and enhance the renewable RFP process, aiming to add up to 3,000 megawatts of renewable capacity. This will enable Entergy Louisiana to bring renewable resources online much more quickly, which is crucial for attracting new customers to our service area. Technology also plays a significant role in driving our growth. At Analyst Day, we identified a potential for 5 to 10 gigawatts of new hyperscale data centers in our service regions, informed by customer discussions. We maintain robust engagement with customers and other stakeholders on this front, and the growth potential from this driver is promising for all our stakeholders. Putting our customers first is our guiding principle for achieving regulatory outcomes that benefit all stakeholders. We are making steady progress through regulatory processes, as exemplified by the agreement in principle in Louisiana and the filings in Texas that I previously mentioned. In June, Entergy Mississippi's annual FRP filing received approval. We are collaborating effectively with the Mississippi Commission to achieve favorable outcomes that support our customers and the operating company's credit, positioning Entergy Mississippi well for driving additional growth in the state for the benefit of all stakeholders. Additionally, Entergy New Orleans and Entergy Arkansas filed their annual FRP. We anticipate new rates effective in September for New Orleans and in January for Arkansas. Finally, progress continues on our gas LDC sale. For Entergy Louisiana, a staff report and recommendation affirming the transaction's public interest was filed this week, subject to customary conditions. We expect this matter will be discussed by the LPSC on August 14 during its business and executive meeting. For Entergy New Orleans, the hearing is slated to start on September 9, with a decision from the City Council anticipated in early 2025. We remain on track to complete the transaction by the third quarter of 2025. Our commitment to supporting our communities was evident this past quarter, and our efforts were recognized as Entergy was once again honored as a Civic 50 company. The Civic 50 has established the national standard for corporate citizenship, showcasing how leading companies prioritize social impact and community engagement. In the first half of 2024, we made consistent progress across critical customer, operational, regulatory, and financial metrics. We are on solid footing to accomplish our goals for 2024, as well as our longer-term outlook. By continuously placing our customers first, we remain dedicated to delivering exceptional value to every one of our key stakeholders. I will now turn the call over to Kimberly to review our financial results for the quarter.
Kimberly Fontan, CFO
Thank you, Drew. Good morning, everyone. As Drew said, today, we are reporting strong results for the quarter that keep us firmly on track to achieve our adjusted EPS guidance for the quarter and for the year. Shown on Slide 3, our adjusted earnings were $1.92 per share. This result is consistent with our objective of steady, predictable earnings growth. For the quarter, we had two items that were considered adjustments and excluded from adjusted earnings. First, we recorded a $1.17 settlement charge as a result of the pension plan lift-out. With this lift-out, our remaining pension liability is 96% funded as of the end of the quarter. As I mentioned at Analyst Day, this is another step in reducing our risk. Second, as Drew discussed, Entergy Louisiana reached an agreement with the LPSC staff to resolve our formula rate plan extension filing. Part of the settlement includes providing $184 million in customer credit. To reflect these credits, we reported expenses totaling $0.52, which is net of $38 million previously recorded for tax sharing related to the IRS audit resolution. Slide 4 details the quarter’s adjusted EPS variances. Key drivers include retail sales growth fueled by hotter than normal weather. On a weather-adjusted basis, retail sales increased 2.9%, with growth across all customer classes. Industrial growth was the biggest contributor. Regulatory actions that support our customer-centric investments also contributed to earnings growth. Costs to serve our customers increased, primarily other O&M and depreciation. Interest expense also increased due to higher interest rates and higher debt balances to finance investments. Moving to Slide 5, operating cash flow was higher than second quarter last year. Key drivers were the timing of payments and higher customer receipts. Credit and liquidity are shown on Slide 6. Our credit metric outlooks, which fully reflect the effects of the regulatory settlements, remain very healthy. Our net liquidity is strong at $5.9 billion. This includes approximately $800 million of equity forwards that we have already locked in but are not yet settled. While we don’t plan to settle these forwards until next year, they are a source of cash if needed. We also issued term debt in the quarter, including $1.2 billion of junior subordinated notes, which are very credit supportive. As Drew mentioned, our restoration response to Hurricane Beryl was timely, safe, and cost-effective. We’re still refining the details, but our early cost estimate is $75 million to $85 million. We plan to recover these costs through normal mechanisms. Turning to Slide 7. You can see that we’ve continued to make good progress through our 2025 to 2026 equity needs. To date, we’ve completed approximately 60% of our projected equity needs through 2026. As shown on Slide 9, we are affirming our adjusted EPS guidance and outlook. For 2024, as we’ve said, we’re firmly on track. Our EPS contribution from volume is expected to be a little higher than our guidance assumption, including the new industrial customers I mentioned last quarter. Weather was hotter than normal this quarter, which created headroom for us to flex our O&M spending plans to achieve better operational outcomes. For the remainder of 2024, there are a couple of quarterly timing considerations that I’d like to note. The sales growth for the balance of the year is still expected to be largely weighted to the fourth quarter as additional new large customers are expected to come online later in the year. We expect as much as 90% of the remaining O&M savings to be achieved in the fourth quarter given our significant flex spending increases in the fourth quarter last year. As you know, if we experience additional weather outside of normal, we may further flex our spending plans. We have provided additional quarterly considerations in the appendix of our webcast presentation. We’re pleased with the progress we’ve made, especially the settlements with the Louisiana Public Service Commission that support and solidify our long-term outlook. With the important clarity we now have in Louisiana, the stage is set for us to capture the unique growth story that we laid out at Analyst Day. And now the Entergy team is available for questions.
Operator, Operator
Thanks, Kimberly. It looks like our first question today comes from Shar Pourreza with Guggenheim Partners. Shar, please go ahead.
Shahriar Pourreza, Analyst
Hey guys, good morning.
Andrew Marsh, CEO
Good morning, Shar.
Shahriar Pourreza, Analyst
Drew, starting off on sort of the regulatory progress in Louisiana and FERC. Any further updates there with the updated schedule? And more importantly, would that be a potential catalyst to maybe revisit capital allocation and the CapEx plans, especially as you settle the FRP and look at new generation deployment under the new 3-gigawatt mechanism? Thanks.
Andrew Marsh, CEO
Shah, could you repeat the first part of your question? You cut out for just one second.
Shahriar Pourreza, Analyst
Yes. No. Any further updates on Louisiana and FERC in that process? That’s the first part. And then the second part is just as we’re thinking about concluding in those processes, depending if there’s a global settlement or whatever. Is that sort of the catalyst to revisit kind of capital allocation and the CapEx plans, especially as you kind of settle the FRP and look at new generation deployment? Thanks.
Andrew Marsh, CEO
Yes. So I’ll let Rod talk about the first part, and I’ll let Kimberly talk about the second part.
Roderick West, CRO
It’s Rod. Regarding FERC, as we did in the previous settlements, we need to file the FERC settlement. Can you hear me now, Shar?
Shahriar Pourreza, Analyst
Much better.
Roderick West, CRO
Good deal. As was the case with prior SERI settlements, we will file the proposed SERI settlement with the LPSC. And nevertheless, it will still be subject to FERC approval, and there’ll be subsequent filings with the FERC in that regard. So we still have work to do. All of what we’ve shared is still subject to approvals, but it will be a methodical process, and it will begin with what we submit to the LPSC for their consideration on the 14.
Andrew Marsh, CEO
And I’ll just add to that, that I think the thing that we’re pleased about is the nature of the way that these results came together and...
Roderick West, CRO
Yes. And we talked about this at Analyst Day, Shar, that our stakeholder engagement strategy was far more deliberate and far more discrete in terms of the stakeholders that we brought together to put us in a position to have this settlement. The outcome was a function of each of the interested stakeholders having an opportunity far earlier in the process to weigh in on this conversation. And while we are pleased that we’re able to get to this point, our work continues because as Drew mentioned in his earlier comments, this simply sets the stage for us to be able to execute on capturing the growth with far greater clarity. But it is a stakeholder engagement driven process that includes our regulators, customers, and policymakers. We’re really at just the beginning and certainly excited about what’s now possible with clarity on where Louisiana has had that same strategy play out in the other states. So we can now focus on the growth story.
Kimberly Fontan, CFO
And Shar, from a capital perspective, certainly, we’re pleased to be at this point, we’ll let the process play out. And then we would expect to give a full update in EEI in November as we typically do.
Shahriar Pourreza, Analyst
Great. Looking forward to that. And then just lastly, obviously, the 2024 assumptions picked up. You talked about low growth coming in Q4, you’ve got the O&M benefits also kicking in, in the back end. It sounds like you’re kind of ahead of schedule for 2024, but I don’t want to lead the witness, is there kind of any read-through to 2025 as we’re thinking about bridging from 2024 to 2025?
Kimberly Fontan, CFO
Yes. We shared our outlook at Analyst Day just a few weeks ago, and I think that is the best place to point. We continue to be on track for this year, and as Rod said, we’re setting ourselves up to continue to deliver on what we provided in our last update a few weeks ago.
Shahriar Pourreza, Analyst
Okay. I appreciate it. Thanks, guys. See you soon.
Andrew Marsh, CEO
Alright. Thanks, Shar.
Operator, Operator
And our next question comes from the line of Jeremy Tonet with JPMorgan. Jeremy, please go ahead.
Jeremy Tonet, Analyst
Hi, good morning.
Andrew Marsh, CEO
Good morning.
Jeremy Tonet, Analyst
Just wanted to come back here to Louisiana. Could you outline more on the scope of your FRP and SERI settlements? Does this leave anything else critical to be addressed for either matter at this point?
Roderick West, CRO
As a general matter, the settlement addresses the formula rate plan extension and terms and conditions of the go-forward regulatory construct, it resolves prior issues. There are 8 or so related dockets that are also cleaned up, much of them dealing with historical administrative proceedings. And the SERI settlement is a different settlement posture, but essentially, it clears the deck of the major litigation between Entergy and the commission and its stakeholders.
Jeremy Tonet, Analyst
Got it. Clears the deck, great to hear. And just moving on here for that August 14 LPSC meeting, do you expect the commission to vote on both settlements or just discuss the details or if the latter, when do you think they might vote?
Roderick West, CRO
So on the 14th, we expect the commission to consider the proposed settlement that the staff will present regarding the FRP, the settlement linked to SERI and its related dockets, as well as the other additional dockets where we have sought alignment. We anticipate the commission will address all of these items. Additionally, Drew mentioned that for the Louisiana Public Service Commission's consideration of the gas LDC sale, the staff has already issued a report recommending approval of their part of that sale. Therefore, this may also be part of the discussions on the 14th. Overall, we expect a comprehensive agenda for the commission on that date.
Jeremy Tonet, Analyst
Got it. Very helpful. And just real quick one to revisit, I guess, as the data center opportunity set that sits before you, any updates to provide there as far as, I guess, just what potential opportunities you see the pace of, I guess, opportunity set, if that’s accelerating? Just any color would be great.
Roderick West, CRO
Yes. We laid out at Analyst Day that nothing that we had presented in terms of our outlook included anything other than AWS. And as Drew alluded to, the 5 to 10 gigawatt opportunity was not something we were speculating around. It’s in our pipeline because we’re having actual conversations with prospective customers in that regard, who, as we laid out, we’re taking advantage of a lot of the structural advantages of the Gulf Coast, the low energy rates that we provide, certainly, the constructive regulatory environment that’s been supportive of economic development and growth in our regions. And so we expect that at the appropriate time, we’ll be able to give details. But as was the case in prior customer additions, we’re not giving out or talking about where any specific customer is in the process until such time that both we and they are prepared to go public with something. But again, we’re bullish about the prospects because of all the advantages that we laid out at Analyst Day and our stakeholder engagement strategy, making sure that all the right stakeholders are at the table quite early in the process.
Jeremy Tonet, Analyst
Got it. Thank you for that.
Roderick West, CRO
Thanks, Jeremy.
Operator, Operator
And our next question comes from the line of David Arcaro with Morgan Stanley. David, please go ahead.
David Arcaro, Analyst
Good morning. Thank you for taking my questions. Congratulations on all the progress you're making in these proceedings. I am curious about the SERI settlement. Is it consistent with the other commission settlements in terms of the allocational or proportional split to Louisiana?
Roderick West, CRO
The short answer is yes. The SERI settlement that’s proposed is consistent with the settlement constructs in the other jurisdictions, Mississippi, Arkansas, and New Orleans, yes.
David Arcaro, Analyst
Okay. Great. Understood. And then I was wondering, just considering that settlement in the Louisiana FRP, how do those line up against your earnings projections here? Does that shift or solidify where you are within the range? And then also on the cash flow side of things, is this consistent with what you would have expected in terms of the cash flow forecast going forward?
Kimberly Fontan, CFO
Yes. Thank you, David. The settlements are reflected in both our earnings per share and cash flow outlooks that we are confirming today. So I would approach it from that perspective.
David Arcaro, Analyst
All right. Sounds good. Thanks so much.
Roderick West, CRO
Thanks, David.
Operator, Operator
And our next question comes from the line of Paul Zimbardo with Jefferies. Paul, please go ahead.
Paul Zimbardo, Analyst
Hi, good morning, team.
Roderick West, CRO
Good morning, Paul.
Paul Zimbardo, Analyst
Yes. Very great to see the productive settlement talks. I knew you’d all be hard at work while I was hanging out on the beach. So good to see that one for those 2. I guess 2 totally unrelated questions. The first is on the renewables RFP update, could you see more utility-owned assets there? I know that’s been a priority for you. Is there a good way to think about and kind of measure the progress as we go forward on these RFPs about like how much is embedded in the plan versus kind of upside to the plan?
Kimberly Fontan, CFO
Yes. We shared our capital view a few weeks ago, which gave you sort of owned renewables and then I believe there was a slide that also showed the breakout there. And so as we go through the RFP, we’ll be able to see as they announced what comes through there, and we’ll provide periodic updates at EEI and other places about how those are performing.
Andrew Marsh, CEO
And we’d expect to have a large RFP in the fall for Louisiana.
Paul Zimbardo, Analyst
Okay. I’ll stay tuned for that. And then the other was just on hardening. I know you’ve been very vocal for years about hardening. I just want to see if there’s any kind of potential amendment changes in philosophy for the Texas plan I know you have Phase 1 in there, whether it’s an amendment to Phase I or pull forward of your thoughts for Phase II. Just any perspective you could provide?
Andrew Marsh, CEO
Yes, that’s a good question. We have been considering our position before and after Beryl. Whenever a storm occurs, we take time to reflect on our strategies. Before Beryl, we submitted a resiliency plan in Texas that aligns with the existing rules and legislation from a couple of years ago, incorporating those priorities. There are a few elements we wanted included in the previous legislation that didn't make it, particularly regarding the inclusion of transmission and our ability to expedite the replacement of existing assets by ensuring we receive a return. Without that return, accelerating efforts could negatively impact our credit, so we have to proceed more cautiously. Now that we have filed and are post-Beryl, we have the chance to engage our stakeholders to determine if we want to keep this plan or explore alternatives. This opens up discussions, and we are eager to see where it leads. Additionally, we will have another opportunity during the upcoming legislative session to address issues we couldn't cover previously. Now, I’ll turn it over to Ron for any further insights.
Roderick West, CRO
Yes. And I’ll just reiterate the point that Beryl provides an opportunity to revisit the public policy backdrop to our capital plans. And not only just in Texas, as Texas as a state revisits the resiliency conversation with the regency of Beryl, but other jurisdictions are certainly paying attention to some of the lessons learned as well. And while Louisiana is well on its way with its resiliency plan, where so much of the attention has been paid of late to reference New Orleans in its ongoing conversations, we know empirically that they were paying close attention to the experiences in Houston. And it is an opportunity for us both at the technical conference as well as our ongoing conversations with the council between now and the end of the year to revisit the scale, scope, and efficacy because we’re still very much in the middle of a storm season. So the unfortunate storm from a customer standpoint provides an opportunity for the states and other stakeholders to revisit the resilient conversation with whatever new information the lessons learned from Beryl.
Paul Zimbardo, Analyst
Great. Thank you both very much for the color.
Roderick West, CRO
Okay. Thanks, Paul.
Operator, Operator
And our next question comes from the line of Michael Lonegan with Evercore ISI. Michael, please go ahead.
Michael Lonegan, Analyst
Hi, thanks for taking my question. On the industrial sales growth specifically, just wondering where you are tracking for the year. I know you expect new customers in the fourth quarter, are all these customers on track? And just trying to get a sense of where you stand versus your long-term 8% to 9% industrial sales growth outlook.
Kimberly Fontan, CFO
Yes. We’re still on track through the end of the year for what we’ve provided about 4% for the full year with most of that coming late in the year. There are a couple of large industrials that we expect to come on. We do have those customers on minimum build type contracts that if they are delayed, we still have some protection from a bottom line perspective because of how they’re contracted in. But we believe we’re still on track, and then we continue to see a strong pipeline throughout the forecast period that supports that growth trajectory that you referenced.
Michael Lonegan, Analyst
Great. And then secondly for me, on the pension lift-out, just wondering how much you’re reducing the volatility of your pension plan, the pricing you got versus par, and if you see an opportunity to do more lift-outs?
Kimberly Fontan, CFO
Yes. We were pleased with the outcome of that lift-out. As I said, the net pension plan is funded now at 96%, and we continue to find ways to reduce volatility. We use smoothing mechanisms in our regulatory jurisdictions to help reduce that volatility as those costs on the regulated side are recovered through rates. As far as weather, we could do another pension lift-out; obviously, the math on that and the ability to execute on that would have to work, but we think that we are in a good place with where we are currently and what we’ve done to derisk our pension plans.
Andrew Marsh, CEO
And I’ll add, in the appendix, there’s a sensitivity chart for pension, which is 25 basis points for every 25 basis points plus or minus $0.01 is kind of what our sensitivity is at this point, which is a lot lower than where it used to be to Kimberly’s point.
Michael Lonegan, Analyst
Great. Thanks for taking my questions.
Andrew Marsh, CEO
Thanks, Michael.
Operator, Operator
And our next question comes from the line of Ryan Levine with Citi. Ryan, please go ahead.
Ryan Levine, Analyst
Hi, everybody. Regarding the lessons learned from Beryl, what do you think is the best way to address the issues around vegetation outside of your right-of-way hitting electric lines in Texas and more broadly in your service territory? Any color or initial thoughts around how to address that potential problem?
Roderick West, CRO
Yes. It’s Rod. The best way to address it is to be proactive and to communicate. It’s embedded in our capital plan that has been across the jurisdictions. It’s also part not only of our reliability capital plan, but also the resiliency capital plan. And the conversation for us around stakeholder engagement includes making it clear to our stakeholders exactly how those investments are benefiting customers. I think the opportunity we have here is to accelerate the asset component of resiliency. That’s what’s different than our normal reliability conversation, but we’ve been particularly in the areas where we serve in South Louisiana and certainly Southeast Texas, vegetation has long been both a challenge and an opportunity for us. I think from a regulatory construct perspective, and I think Drew alluded to this in his comments, what really created the problem for customers in Hurricane Beryl were trees outside of the right-of-way. What do we mean by right-of-way? That is the area from where our facilities are situated to the area how many feet outside of where our facilities exist? Do we have the capacity to trim those trees or vegetation as the case may be? I think when you’re paying attention to the regulatory processes in Louisiana and Texas and beyond, I think you’ll hear more of a conversation around extending the right-of-ways, allowing us to trim in a further area surrounding where our facilities are located to provide greater margin for when those winds come and those trees and other vegetation get into the facilities that disrupt service for customers.
Andrew Marsh, CEO
When we update the capital statements to meet modern standards, there is an opportunity to widen the right-of-ways or address that issue. Transitioning from an old frame transmission structure to a vertical one slightly reduces the target area for trees that grow outside the right-of-way. It's not an ideal solution, as mentioned by Rod; trimming may be necessary and we might have to expand the right-of-ways because there are many tall trees, especially pines, in our service area. However, some of these challenges can be addressed through design improvements and increased investment in resilience.
Ryan Levine, Analyst
On the expansion of right-of-way, would that require a legislative solution? Or are there other mechanisms to effectuate that stated objective?
Roderick West, CRO
And we’d have to get permission from the commissions to extend the right-of-way. That’s basically rulemaking that sort of sets the terms and conditions under which we operate under our franchise. And so that is a commission by commission, state-by-state conversation. But yes, we would go to the commission to seek an expansion of the existing right-of-ways.
Andrew Marsh, CEO
And then maybe even a right-of-way by right-of-way combination. We may have to go back to each individual right-of-way and renegotiate.
Ryan Levine, Analyst
Okay. And then just one last on this. In terms of the length of your right-of-way? Is there an average number that you’re citing? I think the 18-inch is for one of your peers. Do you see that barring geographically in terms of the distance that you have in certain high-risk locations?
Roderick West, CRO
Yes. That’s a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction conversation. But it’s usually articulated in numbers of feet away from existing facilities. And that’s on top of what I’m sure is going to be a conversation about more resilient poles that hold up better not just the trees but also the trees themselves. But yes, it’s usually in feet and jurisdiction by jurisdiction.
Andrew Marsh, CEO
Right. And urban versus rural? Right? I mean we have in the city of New Orleans, some pretty tight right-of-way elements and tree-trimming requirements, not unlike some other urban environments. So we’re very familiar with some of those challenges.
Ryan Levine, Analyst
Thanks for the color.
Andrew Marsh, CEO
Alright. Thanks, Ryan.
Operator, Operator
And our final question today comes from the line of Travis Miller with Morningstar. Travis, please go ahead.
Travis Miller, Analyst
Good morning. Thank you.
Roderick West, CRO
Good morning.
Travis Miller, Analyst
On the AWS facility, what type of regulatory approvals or filings or anything else related to that are necessary before or to get continued shovels in the ground?
Roderick West, CRO
Yes. One of what we talked about this at Analyst Day and before, one of the big advantages that allowed us to move at the speed of their expectations was getting pre-approval. So in order for us to put shovels in the ground, the Mississippi Commission with the support of the Mississippi legislature have already reapproved the CCN process in order for us to begin the design build-out to serve AWS.
Travis Miller, Analyst
Okay. And was there a CapEx or a rate base number associated with that?
Kimberly Fontan, CFO
We haven’t given a specific number associated with that customer. You can see the update at year-end, and there’s additional renewables, for example, for Mississippi to support the clean energy associated with that customer, but we haven’t broken out a specific CapEx for that specific customer.
Travis Miller, Analyst
Okay. And that wasn’t part of the CCN.
Kimberly Fontan, CFO
No. As Ron mentioned, that was addressed through collaboration with the peak or the Mississippi Search Commission in the state as well.
Travis Miller, Analyst
Got it. Okay. And then real quick, you mentioned in answer to an earlier question about legislative session potential around some Beryl and other storm-related issues. What are the possible outcomes legislatively, what are you thinking about there? Or did I misinterpret that?
Roderick West, CRO
No, you heard it correctly, and I think Drew also mentioned it in Texas. The legislative session for us in the last couple of years has focused on giving the Texas commission the ability to create rules to promote resiliency spending. Drew pointed out that during the last legislative session, which occurs every odd year in Texas, specifically the 2023 session, we, along with other stakeholders in the state, made significant progress in facilitating resiliency spending. However, some issues, like the accelerated replacement of transmission facilities as part of the resiliency plan, were not addressed in the way we had hoped. This presents us with an opportunity to return in the 2025 legislative session, with the support of the commission and other stakeholders in Texas, to revisit the legislation that would supplement what Texas has already achieved in promoting accelerated resiliency spending by utilities.
Travis Miller, Analyst
Okay. Got it. So it was just Texas in terms of the comment about legislative.
Roderick West, CRO
That’s correct.
Travis Miller, Analyst
Okay, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
Roderick West, CRO
Thank you.
Andrew Marsh, CEO
Thanks, Travis.
Operator, Operator
And there are no further questions at this time. Mr. Abler, I will now turn the call back over to you. Bill?
William Abler, Vice President of Investor Relations
Thank you, Greg, and thanks to everyone for participating this morning. Our quarterly report on Form 10-Q is due to the SEC on August 9 and provides more details and disclosures about our financial statements. Events that occur prior to the date of our 10-Q filing that provide additional evidence of conditions that existed at the date of the balance sheet would be reflected in our financial statements in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. Also, as a reminder, we maintain a web page as part of Entergy’s Investor Relations website called Regulatory and Other Information, which provides key updates of regulatory proceedings and important milestones on our strategic execution. While some of this information may be considered material information, you should not rely exclusively on this page for all relevant company information. And this concludes our call. Thank you very much.