Company History
New Company Name – New Direction
To face the challenges ahead, the company officially changed its name to
Entergy Corporation at the annual meeting of stockholders in May 1989. The new
name was used to forge a new direction. The name Entergy is a composite of the
words “enterprise,” “energy” and “synergy,” three qualities that described the
company’s new approach to navigating the rapidly evolving marketplace.
The 1990s were a decade of change. Change was everywhere. The electric utility
industry began to prepare for open markets and deregulation. Entergy changed
to meet the demands of its stakeholders. New subsidiaries were created to help
control costs and increase revenues.
Entergy Operations, Inc., and Entergy Power, Inc., were born in 1990. Entergy
Operations streamlined the management of nuclear facilities. Entergy Power was
created to tap the growing, potentially lucrative new market of wholesale
electricity generation. While these new ventures were taking shape, the
utility business was expanding as well.
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On June 8, 1992, Entergy announced its plan to acquire Gulf States Utilities,
which provided electric service to customers in southeastern Texas and
southwestern Louisiana. It took 19 months to work through the merger’s legal
and regulatory processes.
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Entergy emerged as one of the largest electric utilities in the country with
more than 2.3 million retail customers and $22.9 billion in assets. The
service area for Entergy utilities now encompassed four states and reflected a
major step in making the company more efficient and competitive.
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Competition was not limited to the United States. In the mid 1990s Entergy
adopted a global vision. The company played a major role in the Energy Policy
Act of 1992. “Our people were an important resource to those in Congress who
led passage of this milestone legislation, which changed the structure of the
electric utility industry, along with federal policies governing the
generation and sale of electric power. We consider the legislation a victory
for Entergy,” wrote Ed Lupberger, Chairman and CEO, in the 1992 annual report.
The Energy Policy Act paved the way for the direction Entergy is heading
today. It provided for wholesale generators, allowed the FERC to order
utilities to sell wholesale power, permitted utility holding companies to own
properties in foreign countries, and adopted a streamlined process for
licensing nuclear plants. Without that legislation, Entergy would be a
different company today.
With the freedom afforded Entergy by the Energy Policy Act, the company moved
beyond the limitations of its four-state service area and began a major
reorganization and expansion effort. It diversified into a number of different
industries including energy efficiency, telecommunications and home security.
Entergy bought or established foreign generation and distribution entities in
Australia, Argentina, Chile, China, Pakistan, Peru and the United Kingdom. The
company had become a global player in the electric energy business. But big
changes lay ahead.
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