The Future Is On: Entergy's Environmental Stewardship

A key part of our business strategy
Jul 27, 2022 10:00 AM ET
electric bus in front of terminal
In Texas, an Entergy Environmental Initiatives Fund grant helped the Port Arthur Transit agency expand its electric bus fleet as part of the city’s effort to lower transportation-related air pollution.

Originally published in The Future is On: 2021 Integrated Report

Entergy's 2021 Integrated Report focuses on a number of key sustainability and ESG initiatives, including our environmental strategy. Read on for an overview of Entergy's approach to environmental stewardship and view our full report at integratedreport.entergy.com.

At Entergy, environmental stewardship is a key driver of our business strategy as we work to protect our natural resources, address climate issues, and reduce carbon emissions across our value chain. Our focus on climate change has been a sustainability priority for more than two decades. As the first U.S. utility to voluntarily set a greenhouse gas emissions goal in 2001, today we operate one of the cleanest large-scale power generation fleets in the country, as noted by the independent Benchmarking Air Emissions Report. Now we have climate goals that reach into future decades, too. Learn more about our climate goals in this report and our 2020 addendum.

Goal

Based on current planning, by 2030 our absolute emissions from oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) both will be 90% below 2000 levels; and mercury (Hg) emissions will be near zero. Our carbon dioxide reduction goal is 50% reduction in utility emission rate by 2030 compared to 2000 levels and net zero emissions by 2050.

Like carbon, we also set goals for our utility’s traditional air emissions. Since 2000, our investments in clean energy capacity for our utility business have resulted in:

  • 26% reduction in absolute carbon dioxide emissions and 39% reduction in carbon dioxide emission rates.
  • 81% reduction in absolute nitrous oxide emissions and 84% reduction in nitrous oxide emission rates.
  • 75% reduction in sulfur dioxide emissions and 80% reduction sulfur dioxide emission rates.
  • 94% reduction in mercury emissions and 95% reduction in mercury emission rates.

In 2021, Entergy contributed more than $1 million to partnering organizations through our Environmental Initiatives Fund. These grants marked the 21st consecutive year that our shareholders earmarked funds at this scale to protect the environment while enhancing our communities’ quality of life. A history of the program is available here. 2021 grant recipients are listed here.

We also serve as a thought leader in our industry, advancing constructive discussions to understand the risks associated with changing environmental conditions and partnering with regulators and key stakeholders on policy and technology options that address climate change. For example, in 2021, Entergy created an internal environmental justice working group to ensure that we meet our objective to minimize any potential adverse effect of our activities on local communities, including our low-income communities.

Read the full report here.