Entergy

Entergy Corp. is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations in the Deep South of the United States. It is headquartered in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana.

History

Entergy traces its history to November 13, 1913, with the formation of Arkansas Power Company. Founder Harvey Couch used sawdust from a lumber company to bring electricity to rural Arkansas. In the 1920s, Couch set his sights on buying electric companies in other states. In 1923, he merged four independent companies in Mississippi into Mississippi Power and Light. Two years later, he formed Louisiana Power and Light to provide power to his Mississippi customers from northern Louisiana's natural gas fields.

Meanwhile, in 1922, Sidney Mitchel of Electric Bond and Share Company (EBASCO), a subsidiary of General Electric, had merged several competing electric utilities in New Orleans into New Orleans Public Service, an EBASCO subsidiary. Mitchel began turning his attention to other territories, and eventually began competing with Couch. The two men ultimately decided to merge their resources. In 1925, Electric Power and Light Corporation, an EBASCO subsidiary headquartered in New Orleans, was formed with Couch as its president. It was the parent company for Mississippi Power and Light, Louisiana Power and Light, New Orleans Public Service and Arkansas Power and Light.