Arkansas utility companies are adopting clean-energy policies at a faster clip than much of the U.S., but state activists said more uniform reporting would help measure the true impact of those policies and keep the companies accountable on their promises.
Utilities are finding it more cost-effective to invest in clean-energy options rather than building new natural gas plants. As Entergy states on its website, companies "recognize that our customers increasingly have sustainability and climate goals and seek more renewable energy solutions."
In January, the Sierra Club -- a national environmental organization -- released its "The Dirty Truth about Utility Climate Pledges" report that examined 50 parent utility companies that own half of all remaining coal- and gas-fired generation facilities in the U.S. The report analyzed companies' plans to retire coal, stop building gas plants and invest in clean energy over the next decade.
Nationally, the average score was 20 out of 100 (or a letter grade of D) for utilities with a net-zero climate pledge and 14 out of 100 for utilities without such a pledge, "showing that utilities' corporate pledges mean little in terms of action," according to the report.
Arkansas' three-largest electricity providers: Southwestern Electric Power Co. (owned by American Electric Power Co. Inc) scored 50 points (a letter grade of B), while Entergy Arkansas and the Arkansas Electric Cooperative Association scored 36 and 38, respectively, (both letter grades of C).
Glen Hooks, president of the Sierra Club Arkansas Chapter, said Arkansas utilities "really have been doing a lot of good work," but that there is still room for improvement.
Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. consists of 17 electric distribution cooperatives and does not have a unified clean energy policy. However, it has three hydro-powered plants and long-term purchase agreements for solar and wind energy.
SWEPCO's score tied for 10th-best of the companies assessed nationally. Hooks said this higher score came from the company's plans to build wind energy facilities and to retire several coal plants.
The company will add 810 megawatts of wind energy for Arkansas and Louisiana customers through the purchase of three wind facilities now being developed in Oklahoma, with completion expected in 2021 and 2022, said Peter Main, a SWEPCO communications consultant. It also plans to retire the Pirkey Plant by 2023 and cease coal operations at the Welsh Power Plant by 2028 -- both located in Texas and serving Arkansas customers, Main said.
Hooks said the main thing holding SWEPCO back in the state in terms of clean energy rankings is the Flint Creek Power Plant in Gentry.
SWEPCO plans to continue operating the plant in compliance with environmental regulations, Main said. The plant is owned half by SWEPCO and half by Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp.
The state has a total of five coal-fired power plants.
SWEPCO, in addition to Flint Creek, plans to continue operating the John W. Turk Jr. Power Plant in Fulton.
NRG Energy Services owns the 680-megawatt Plum Point Energy Station just south of Osceola.
The state's two largest coal-fired plants are White Bluff in Redfield and Independence Stream Electric Station in Newark -- both owned by Entergy. However, Entergy will stop coal combustion at those plants by 2030 as part of a settlement agreement finalized on March 11 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.
Coal is the leading fuel used for generating electricity in Arkansas and accounts for almost two-fifths of the state's net generation, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's analysis last updated in March 2020.
Four of the 10 largest power plants in Arkansas are natural gas-fired, and natural gas fueled about one-third of the state's net generation in 2019, according the analysis. The state has one nuclear power plant -- with two reactors -- that provides about one-fifth of net generation.
Almost all of the rest of the state's electricity generation is from hydroelectric power and biomass-fueled generating facilities.
Arkansas has a small but increasing amount of solar power, which accounted for about 0.6% of the state's electricity generation in 2019, an almost eight-fold increase from 2016, according the analysis.
Entergy is also adding more solar to the state. In January, the company announced a 180-megawatt plant near West Memphis, hoping to get it online some time next year. It will be the state's largest solar array. Entergy also has solar projects underway in Lee County and Searcy, and two already operating in Lake Village and Stuttgart.
Entergy has committed to reducing its carbon emissions rate by half by 2030 as compared with 2000 levels. By 2050, it pledged to achieve net zero carbon emissions. Options for renewable energy in Arkansas may include solar, geothermal, hydroelectric and wind power, and energy storage technologies, said Kacee Kirschvink, communications manager for Entergy Arkansas.
"We have a lot of opportunities to work toward a cleaner energy future, and it's exciting all the innovation that's out there we can take advantage of," Kirschvink said.
Hook said the company still needs to end its dependence on natural gas -- which results in fewer emissions than coal -- if it actually plans to get to zero carbon emissions.
"They're doing some great things, which we applaud them for," he said. "We really need to be aggressive about getting off fossil fuels if we really want to make a difference."
CenterPoint Energy Inc. -- which delivers natural gas to about 400,000 customers across most of Arkansas -- plans a 70% reduction in emissions by 2035. It received a 50 (or a B letter grade), and was the sixth-highest-scoring parent company in the Sierra Club report.
"We've already been doing quite a bit," CenterPoint spokesman Ross Corson said. "For example, in terms of emissions directly attributable to our operations in Arkansas, from 2013-19, we've reduced those by 17.6% ... and we've primarily been doing that by modernizing our infrastructure."
Over the past two decades, the company has replaced 450 miles of cast iron pipeline, which is prone to corrosion, he said. It has also been replacing uncoated steel pipes. Both are replaced with polyethylene plastic and epoxy-coated steel pipes.
"That way the natural gas stays in the pipe instead of going into the air," he said.
Corson said the company plans to retire and replace an additional 3,000 miles of old pipeline within the next seven years.
CenterPoint also pledged to reduce emissions, based on 2005 levels, that are attributable to gas usage in heating, appliances and equipment within the residential and commercial sectors by up to 30% by 2040, incentivizing customers through its Conservation Improvement Program.
"We help both our individual and business customers reduce their energy consumption and that saves them money on their utility bills, but it also helps them shrink the carbon footprint from their own energy usage," he said.
Since 2013, CenterPoint customers in the Arkansas program have been able to reduce emissions by about 482,000 tons of carbon dioxide -- the equivalent of about the annual usage of 139,000 homes -- saving them about $63 million, Corson said.
Advocates have been developing model legislation to establish more extensive reporting measures for power utilities. It would provide accountability for utilities' clean energy pledges and allow companies to showcase their progress, Citizens' First Congress members said.
"In other words, we have utility companies saying: 'We're going to be zero emissions by such and such a date.' Well, what does that mean? There's different ways to measure that. If people aren't submitting information in a standardized manner, it's hard to know if we're making progress," said Gary Kahanak, environmental caucus co-chairman. "We can only manage what we measure. This bill would set a standardized method."
Citizens' First Congress has also pitched a task force to study clean-energy sector jobs. The objective would be to study and propose a plan for how the state can take advantage of the transitioning electric power sector with respect to job creation and economic development.
Clean-energy jobs (3.36 million) outnumbered total fossil fuel employment (1.19 million) by more than 3-to-1 in 2019, according to an Environmental Entrepreneurs April 2020 report. These numbers include jobs in renewables, grid and storage, energy efficiency, and clean fuels and vehicles.
"What it's showing is that we can get out of that old mindset of 'you can either have a healthy economy or a healthy environment. This is real proof you can have both," Corson said.