Document Type
Finding Aid
Publication Date
2015
Abstract
In the mid-1920s, four companies worked interdependently to provide electrical power to Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and New Orleans. Those companies were Arkansas Power and Light, Louisiana Powerand Light, Mississippi Power and Light, and New Orleans Public Service, Inc. In 1949 Middle South Utilities (MSU) became the holding company for the four companies. A year later MSU was serving 625,000 customers in more than 1,600 communities. By 1961 the corporation had contracted with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to begin exchanging their power surplus. TVA had a surplus in the summer while MSU had a surplus in the winter.
The first fuel source for Arkansas Power Company (the company established in 1913) was sawdust. Before long the company turned to water and later to natural gas. In the 1960s when natural gas became scarce, MSU led the move toward nuclear energy. The corporation built a nuclear plant in Russellville, Arkansas, in 1967 and two more in Grand Gulf, Mississippi, in 1974. MSU built the plants based on a forecast of increased energy consumption. The conservation movement began to grow during the 1970s, however, and the corporation encountered major financial problems. In 1989 it was renamed Entergy Corporation.
The first communities served by Arkansas Power Company were Malvern and Arkadelphia, Arkansas.
Many of the publications in this collection were mailed to Mrs. Juanita M. Barnett, the librarian at Ouachita Baptist University. The publications include annual reports and reports of basic economic data.
Recommended Citation
Middle South Utilities Publications. Riley-Hickingbotham Library Archives and Special Collections. Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia, Arkansas.