Earnings for wholesale energy distribution at Entergy Corp., New Orleans, rose in 2022, largely due to the sale of the company’s last two unprofitable nuclear power facilities, according to earnings results published this week.
Net income for Entergy Wholesale Commodities (EWC), the merchant nuclear business that Entergy exited over the summer with the two plant sales, was roughly $63 million, or $0.31 per share, in 2022, according to an earnings release published Thursday. The sales helped boost the soon-to-be-defunct segment’s results substantially from 2021, when EWC posted a loss of about $123 million, or $0.61 per share.
Part of that was a favorable comparison. In May 2021, the company lost money selling Indian Point Energy Center in New York to Holtec. In 2022, that plant’s severance and retention costs were off the books.
Meanwhile, with Palisades and Big Rock Point sold, the wholesale segment’s revenue fell year-over-year to about $343 million in 2022 from $698 million in 2021.
For the fourth quarter, ended Dec. 31, EWC reported a net loss of $12 million, down year-over year from roughly $89 million in income. Segment revenue was also down for the quarter, at around $43 million in 2022 compared with around $139 million during the fourth quarter of 2021. The sale of the two plants more than made up for the down quarter, however.
Entergy sold Michigan’s Palisades Nuclear Generating Station to nuclear services company Holtec International in June. As part of that transaction, Holtec also bought the decommissioned Big Rock Point plant in Charlevoix, Mich., from Entergy.
Entergy still operates four nuclear power plants with a combined total of five operating reactors as part of its regulated nuclear power business, which is distinct from the merchant business.
Company-wide, business was stable in 2022.
Entergy’s net income for 2022 was about flat at around $1.1 billion, or $5.37 per share. A year ago, Entergy reported net income of around $1.11 billion, or $5.54 a share. Revenue rose slightly year-over-year to around $14 billion, compared with $12 billion in the prior year.
Fourth-quarter income for the full utility stood at around $106 million, also down compared with the $259 million Entergy reported during the same period in 2021. Operating revenue in the fourth quarter of 2022 was around $3.2 billion, up year-over-year from $2.7 billion.
