New Caney - Porter Edition | January 2026

Government

BY WESLEY GARDNER & NICHAELA SHAHEEN

Entergy opens Millbend Substation to increase capacity

Countywide mobility study moves forward Montgomery County commissioners took a step toward a new countywide transportation roadmap Jan. 15, discussing a mobility study they said will be the rst to outline a 10-year plan for the entire county. The big picture County Judge Mark Keough said the eort began with obtaining federal funds in October 2024, followed by a formal request in December 2024. The project was then added to the Houston-Galveston Area Council’s Unied Planning Work Program when it was approved last April. Keough said the county issued a request for proposals in September and awarded the contract to Freese and Nichols in December. The project kicked o in January and will take 12 to 18 months to complete.

East Montgomery County leaders joined representatives from Entergy Texas for a Jan. 7 ribbon-cutting for the energy company’s new Millbend substation and transmission line project. The details The new substation is part of Entergy’s Southeast Texas Energy Plan, which focuses on investing in energy infrastructure ahead of population growth, according to a Jan. 8 news release. Sean Meredith, vice president of capital projects for Entergy, said the substation was built to help support areas of Montgomery County experiencing growth, including New Caney and Porter. “The station is here to support that [growth], and it’s going to do a great job at that,” Meredith said. A closer look Meredith said the project consists of several electrical towers and roughly 6 miles of transmis- sion lines. He noted the towers have been built to

Sean Meredith, vice president of capital projects for Entergy, spoke at the Jan. 7 ribbon cutting ceremony.

WESLEY GARDNERCOMMUNITY IMPACT

withstand extreme weather events. “If a hurricane blows through, there may not be roofs on building, but those [towers] are going to be standing,” Meredith said. Additionally, Stuart Barrett, vice president of customer service for Entergy, said the new substa- tion includes modern equipment that can automat- ically shift power to other lines if there’s a problem, which he said would help shorten outage times. Meredith said ocials will be able to expand the new towers and transmission lines in the future.

NEW CANEY PORTER EDITION