BRIDGE CITY, Texas — Area and state officials expect Entergy's upcoming addition to Orange County to do wonders for the area's economy.
Entergy broke ground on its new Orange County Advance Power Station in Bridge City Monday. In attendance to help celebrate the major milestone were area leaders, Entergy board members and Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
Related: Entergy Texas gets approval to build Orange County plant capable of powering more than 230K homes
"An energy company like this comes in and provides more power to the region," Gov. Abbott said. "That has a knock-on economic benefit."
The power company believes the new power station will support the rapid growth happening in Southeast Texas. Hundreds gathered to celebrate the groundbreaking and to highlight the impact the investment is expected to have on the area.
"It's jobs. It's economic development," Orange County Judge John Gothia said. "It's all the things you try to do in a community to help the community grow."
Those in attendance said they believe Entergy made a great investment into the community and raved about the number of homes the facility could power.
“This facility is going to provide more than 1,200 megawatts of power,” Gov. Abbott said. “That's enough power to power more than 230,000 more homes in this area."
Entergy officials said the project aims to provide clean energy and is set to bring in more than $1 billion to the area's economy. Construction of the facility will bring more than 7,000 temporary jobs and about 27 permanent jobs once it is operational.
"We expect construction to provide $1.8 billion in economic development to the area and create over 7,000 direct and indirect jobs," Entergy Texas CEO and President Eli Viamontes said.
Many officials are excited to see all the benefits the Orange County Advance Power Station will bring to the area.
"For Entergy to commit the amount of money they are to build this facility," Judge Gothia said. "Just shows their belief in our growth that we are going to have here as well."