Climate Lobbying Overview: Entergy Corporation (Entergy) appears to be lobbying with mostly negative positions on U.S. climate policy. Although the company advocates in open letters for federal climate policies, it has opposed state-level renewable energy proposals in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi. Entergy holds leadership positions in several industry associations, including the American Gas Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, both of which commonly lobby in opposition to U.S. climate policy, including the Build Back Better Act.

Top-Line Messaging on Climate Policy: Entergy appears to have mostly positive top-line messaging on climate policy, with its positive advocacy concentrated in joint letters to U.S. federal policymakers. During negotiations on the federal infrastructure package in July 2021, Entergy signed a letter with C2ES in support of the proposal. Previously in January 2021, Entergy signed another letter with C2ES advocating to President Biden for “ambitious, durable, bipartisan solutions” and supporting the U.S. re-entry to the Paris Agreement.

Engagement with Climate-Related Policy: Entergy demonstrates mostly negative engagement on climate-related policy. According to a March 2022 E&E News article, Entergy has not engaged on the ongoing Supreme Court case regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate GHG emissions from power plants. The company demonstrates negative engagement on state-level renewable energy legislation. In February 2022, a local media source described subsidiary Entergy Mississippi’s support for weaker incentives for rooftop solar incentives in the state. In 2020, the Daily Energy Insider described similar engagement against rooftop solar by Entergy in Arkansas. Entergy’s main engagement in recent years has been the New Orleans City Council renewable energy standard (RPS) proposal, in which subsidiary Entergy New Orleans has repeatedly advocated to the Council between 2019 and 2021 to enact a technology-neutral, flexible RPS instead of a more ambitious standard. In October 2019 written comments, the subsidiary appeared to threaten legal action if the Council continued to pursue a 100% renewable energy mandate.

However, in February 2022, Entergy signed a joint letter organized by C2ES that advocated to Congressional leadership to pass the clean energy tax credits in the Build Back Better Act. Previously, in July 2021, Entergy joined several other utilities in advocating to the EPA to reinstate the California waiver, which allows states to adopt more ambitious GHG emissions standards for vehicles.

Positioning on Energy Transition: Entergy appears to have a mixed position on the transition of the energy mix. In recent earnings calls, CEO Leo Denault has been advocating for the expansion of hydrogen without clarifying the need to decarbonize production; in an August 2021 call, he appeared to support hydrogen sourced from fossil fuels. Upon the February 2022 announcement of the Louisiana Climate Action Plan to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, Entergy released a blog post supporting the plan while offering unclear disagreement with some of its methodologies. Entergy is a member of the Climate Initiatives Task Force that drafted the plan, which includes other representatives from fossil fuel companies. Additionally, in September 2020 prior to the election of President Biden, Entergy suggested that achieving Biden’s target of a decarbonized power sector by 2035 was not feasible without new technologies. In its Q3 and Q4 2021 federal lobbying reports, Entergy discloses engagement on the proposed Clean Electricity Performance Program in the reconciliation bill without stating a position.

Industry Association Governance: Entergy discloses several of its industry association memberships on its corporate website, however it does not include details on each organization’s climate change policy positions. In addition, the company does not disclose its membership to the American Gas Association(AGA). According to Entergy’s 2021 CDP report, the company CEO sits on the Executive Committee and Board of Directors for the Edison Electric Institute (EEI). An Entergy executive also serves on the Board of Directors for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Both the AGA and the U.S. Chamber lobby negatively on climate policy, including against climate proposals in the reconciliation bill. EEI engages with more mixed positions and has offered mixed support for the climate provisions in the Build Back Better Act.