NORTH LITTLE ROCK — The city of North Little Rock is looking to grow its electricity service at the expense of Entergy Arkansas, the state’s largest electric utility.
In January, North Little Rock Mayor Terry Hartwick wrote a letter to Entergy Arkansas President and Chief Executive Officer Laura Landreaux informing her the city “elects to acquire Entergy’s customers, distribution properties and facilities” within a newly annexed territory.
Hartwick said the letter is a move by the city to start discussions with Entergy Arkansas, where Entergy Arkansas will offer some of its current customers to the city in exchange for keeping others, namely Amazon.
The move to take over Entergy customers began with the city annexing land along its eastern boundary in August 2020 that eventually became the site of Amazon’s North Little Rock fulfillment center off U.S. 70 in Galloway.
“Yeah, we’re going after some pieces of property that Entergy serves that we want back,” Hartwick said. “So, I’m not shy about that. I think if we don’t keep acquiring some of the lands that we’ve given up — North Little Rock wants to serve them.”
The move is the beginning of a negotiation with Entergy as Amazon is a major customer for the utility in North Little Rock. Amazon has told the city it wants to stay with Entergy Arkansas, but in return the city wants to take control of providing electricity for current residents who get their power from Entergy Arkansas, according to Hartwick.
“The discussion we had with the mayor are, we might as well serve them if there are customers there,” said Jessica Stephens, interim general manager of the North Little Rock Electric Department.
North Little Rock had three years to exercise the option after annexing the land under state law and has six months to work out an agreement for fair compensation with the utility, City Attorney Amy Fields said.
The annexation allows North Little Rock to claim “all customers, distribution properties” from a public utility in exchange for compensation under Arkansas law. A spokesperson from Entergy said it’s still discussing the move with the city.
“The City of North Little Rock has identified a recently annexed area that is currently served by Entergy Arkansas where it would like the North Little Rock Electric Department to provide electric utility service,” said Brandi Hinkle, a spokeswoman for Entergy Arkansas, in a statement. “Both entities are currently engaged in discussions to find a mutually agreeable resolution.”
North Little Rock is just one of 15 municipalities in Arkansas that runs its own power utility. For the city, the Electric Department is a major revenue generator that is projected to bring in $90 million in revenue from the sale of electricity in 2022.
Hartwick said he is eyeing parts of the east end of North Little Rock as a place where North Little Rock would expand its electric utility service, citing Stone Links where there is a housing subdivision.
“If we don’t continue to keep electrical customers in our grid, at some point we go defunct — I mean think about it,” Hartwick said.