A utility company in Mississippi is expanding its electric power service in the hopes of drawing more businesses to the state. MPB's Ashley Norwood reports.
The Mississippi Public Service Commission has approved Entergy Mississippi's construction of a $57 million substation Mega Site in Madison County. A substation is a facility where electrical output can be increased and distributed to local towns and businesses. Investors say the Madison county Mega Site sits on more than 1,000 acres off Interstate 55, close to the Nissan automotive plant in Canton.
Ed Gardner is Entergy Mississippi director of business and economic development. He says the goal is to be more competitive in attracting large corporations and manufacturers into the state.
"Those could be automotive certainly, that could be aerospace, data centers require a ton of electricity and they have to be highly highly reliable so that is something unique we can now go after that quite frankly we didn't have the sites or the infrastructure to go after before," said Gardner.
Gardner with Entergy says the new substation could have a major impact on workforce development in the region. That means more revenue for Mississippians and the state.
"This could be a facility or facilities located here that could provide high paying jobs that could draw workforce from 60 miles up to 100 miles. And so there is a regional draw. It'll also help the state of Mississippi because anytime we have sophisticated larger employers that come in there's a supply change behind that," said Gardner.
Entergy will break ground on the substation in December 2020 and open for service the following year. Ashley Norwood, MPB News.
