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The Watchdog

A blog on energy matters in Louisiana!

Court Hearing on Entergy’s Lawsuit for Higher Profits

2/11/2020

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Photo by Paul Fell
Regulated Monopoly Resists Regulation

​This week, Entergy takes the New Orleans City Council to court in pursuit of higher profits for their shareholders. A preliminary hearing will take place Wednesday morning at 9:00 AM in Judge Sidney Cates’ courtroom at Orleans Parish Civil District Court.

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The New Orleans City Council & Entergy vs. The People of New Orleans

1/6/2020

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Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal to Decide Open Meetings Law Violations, Entergy Gas Plant After Hearing Oral Arguments Today

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City Council goes before state appeals court seeking to overturn ruling against Entergy plant by MICHAEL ISAAC STEIN

1/6/2020

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By MICHAEL ISAAC STEIN
​
Article originally published by The Lens
JANUARY 6, 2020
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A colorful protest against Entergy's gas plant in eastern New Orleans, held in front of the Fourth District Court of Appeals. (Michael Isaac Stein/The Lens)
The New Orleans City Council went to state appeals court on Monday in an attempt to reverse a June ruling in Civil District Court that voided the 2018 vote approving Entergy New Orleans’ controversial power plant in eastern New Orleans. ​​

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Electric Companies Like Entergy Are Using Affiliate Transactions to Block Renewable Energy, Here’s How

12/12/2019

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Despite the environmental, economic, and reliability benefits of switching to  a renewables future, New Orleans, Louisiana is being blocked by local utility monopoly, Entergy.

BY: JOSEPH DANIEL, SENIOR ENERGY ANALYST 
Published by Union of Concerned Scientists
December 11, 2019, 12:38 PM EST

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Entergy sues the City Council over lower profit rate and $1 million fine

12/11/2019

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Entergy New Orleans CEO David Ellis sits at a City Council utility committee meeting in October.
Entergy New Orleans, the city’s electric and gas utility, filed two lawsuits on Friday over recent decisions by the New Orleans City Council, which serves as the company’s regulator. 
​

by MICHAEL ISAAC STEIN
Article originally published by The Lens

DECEMBER 10, 2019

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Safeguarding Louisiana's future: Highlights of our work

12/2/2019

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The Alliance for Affordable Energy safeguards Louisiana’s future by protecting
the consumers’ right to an affordable, equitable, and environmentally responsible energy system.
​
Here are some highlights of our current work in action.

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Persistent outages plaguing Grand Gulf nuclear plant are adding millions to the bills of New Orleans customers

11/27/2019

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Entergy Tower on Loyola Avenue in New Orleans
Entergy’s Grand Gulf Nuclear Station in Port Gibson, Mississippi is enormous. With the largest nuclear reactor in the US, it has an output capacity of 1,443 megawatts, 11 times more than the company’s controversial gas plant project in eastern New Orleans. Entergy New Orleans — the Entergy subsidiary that serves the city of New Orleans — has had an agreement to purchase 17 percent of the plant’s energy since it started operating in 1985. ​

by MICHAEL ISAAC STEIN
NOVEMBER 27, 2019
Article Originally published by The Lens

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City Council Delivers Both Serious Wins and One Major Concern to Ratepayers

11/14/2019

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​Last week the New Orleans City Council delivered a win to New Orleanians when they voted to approve a resolution finalizing a 15 month rate case. And while the majority of the decisions on this rate case are a win, concerns remain about significantly extending the lives of fossil fueled generation, which could cost ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

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Wind and solar kill coal and nuclear on costs, says latest Lazard report

11/8/2019

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The cost of wind and solar continue to decline and are now at the point where they beat, or at least match, even the marginal costs of coal-fired generation and nuclear power, according to the 13th and latest edition of Lazard’s Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis, one of the most highly regarded assessments in the world.

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Renewable Energy Is Now The Cheapest Option - Even Without Subsidies By James Ellsmoor, Forbes

11/8/2019

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TWEET THIS
  • unsubsidized renewable energy is now most frequently the cheapest source of energy generation
  • These new statistics demonstrate that using renewable energy is increasingly cost-effective compared to other sources, even when renewables must compete with the heavily-subsidized fossil fuel industry

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Throwback Thursday- Entergy Holds New Orleans for Ransom

11/7/2019

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Published by 
Special to Corp Watch  |  By  Rita J. King  |  Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Tags: 
Bribery, Fraud & Tax Evasion, Human Rights, Money & Politics, War & Disaster Profiteering

​
Some New Orleanians desperately want, and fear, their utility bills.

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Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’ Is Getting Even More Toxic — But Residents Are Fighting Back By ANTONIA JUHASZ

10/30/2019

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One of the most polluted regions of the country is being overrun by a new glut of oil and gas facilities, including one that will emit as much carbon as three coal-fired power plant
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Sharon Lavigne (L) leads The March Against Death Alley through St. James, Louisiana on Oct. 23rd, 2019. William Widmer for Rolling Stone

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The Louisiana Public Service Commission held it’s monthly October meeting at a casino.  What could go wrong??

10/21/2019

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The simple answer is that, people lost a lot of money. The game is rigged and the house always wins, but not just at the blackjack tables and the hotel bar.

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Confused about changes to net metering in Louisiana?  Here’s the deal.

10/15/2019

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In September the Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) voted to end net metering for Louisianans, outside of New Orleans, in favor of 2-channel billing. Changes would go into effect January 1, 2020, with a 15 year grandfathering clause. Here’s what that means for you.



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Why Voting Against Entergy Louisiana’s Green Tariff was the Environmental Choice

10/11/2019

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Green Tariffs can work really well and have multiple benefits including incorporating more renewable energy into the grid, attracting more commercial businesses, while keeping costs low. 
So, if Green Tariffs are so good, why did the LPSC do the right thing by voting against it?



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Climate action: By and For the People

10/9/2019

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Something has finally shifted. Thanks to the persistence of scientists, frontline communities, tenacious teenagers, and the undeniable events that are proving the reality of climate change, the world is waking up.  

The question is no longer DO we take action on climate change. The question is HOW? 



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Wait, what is going on in Ohio?

8/22/2019

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Campaigns for corporate bailouts and clean energy rollbacks, funded by ‘dark money’ for years. Wait, what is going on in Ohio? ​
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Image: https://insideclimatenews.org/sites/default/files/styles/opengraph_large/public/article_images/perry-nuclear-900_firstenergy-cc-by-na-20.jpg?itok=3zBPJ5X-

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Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) 101

8/6/2019

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Introducing, defining, and explaining both the processes and histories behind Integrated Resource Plans in Louisiana. ​
By Daniel Lovett, AAE Economic Analyst Intern

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Solar Rebates: Saving the Planet and Your Pockets

8/2/2019

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Solar power is clean and sustainable, and though its costs have dropped substantially over the past years, it is still too expensive for some to make the leap. By reducing the initial cost barrier of switching to solar, solar rebates are a great way to incentivize customers to install solar photovoltaic systems.

By Amelia Walley
​AAE Economic Analyst Intern

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Energy Future New Orleans (EFNO) Submits Community Led Plan for the First 100% Resilient and Renewable Portfolio Standard Energy Plan Standard in the Gulf South

7/16/2019

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New Orleans, LA - July 16, 2019 - On the heels of what many expected to be an historic weather event in the City of New Orleans, a coalition of local and national groups and businesses submitted a sweeping proposal aimed at transforming the current energy system in the city to 100% renewable energy by 2040.  Hurricane Barry served as a reminder that resilience is intertwined with the fate of New Orleans, and that renewable energy as well as equity are the keys to its long term survival. This innovative proposal represents not only a first for New Orleans, but also for the Gulf South, and was developed through community input to ensure equity, reduced cost of electric bills, and lasting environmental benefits. The Coalition filed their proposal with the Clerk of Council on Monday, July 15th as a part of a formal City Council proceeding. ​

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Power Outages in NOLA: The Problem, Implications, Solutions, and Moving Forward

6/25/2019

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By Emma King, AAE Research Analyst Intern

New Orleans is a city in which residents and businesses are plagued with frequent power outages. These outages are more than an inconvenience and affect people in a myriad of ways. This report provides a detailed understanding of how these outages hinder the New Orleans community by splitting the topic into four parts. The first discusses the problem of outages by calculating the cost to energy consumers and comparing outage data from Entergy New Orleans, the city’s utility provider, to previously-conducted studies as well as the national average and averages from other Louisiana utilities. The second part examines the diverse implications of outages in New Orleans that may not be included in the calculated monetary cost because of the broad and encompassing effects of outages. The third section provides solutions to outages that can be undertaken by individuals, businesses, and cities as a whole. The fourth section places these solutions into the context of current efforts to reduce outages and improve energy efficiency in New Orleans and suggests how we move forward from here.


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This Crazy Trick Could Help New Orleans Utility Customers Save Money

6/5/2019

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JOSEPH DANIEL, SENIOR ENERGY ANALYST - Originally published on Union of Concerned Scientists blog
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What's going on with  the LPSC Political Subdivision Efficiency Program?

6/1/2019

 
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Louisiana’s Energy Efficient (EE) program is currently in the Quick Start phase which includes a ‘Political Subdivision’ component that allows public entities to apply for funding from the Louisiana Public Service Commission to contract with an energy service company (ESCO) to conduct EE upgrades at the facility. This is often used by school districts and city governments to upgrade HVAC systems or replace residential street lighting. The process to receive this funding would be through an LPSC approved proposal, submitted by a political subdivision that has secured a contract with an ESCO. The program is funded through rate-payer dollars.


The Alliance identified major concerns with this program due to its lack of transparency and oversight. Program reporting is done only once every three years and a Public Records Request is required to view the reports as well as the applications. We initially submitted a Public Record Request for the first round of applications in the Fall of 2017 to discover significant overspending and no requirement for cost-effectiveness. A more detailed write up of our findings from the first round of proposals is below. In our efforts to continue to monitor this program, we submitted another public records request for the applications submitted for 2019. 58 applications were submitted, totaling 1,258 pages, equaling $434.50 in copies. The price is the same for an electronic version as the applications still need to be scanned in. 

The first round of proposals were due on June 15, 2017. Ten proposals were submitted, nine of those proposals contracted with the same ESCO, Brilliant Efficiencies. The tenth one was contracted with Green Coast Enterprises and Moses Engineering. The Alliance for Affordable Energy filed a public records request in regards to the proposals, some key findings are below

  • Of the 9 proposals to which Brilliant Efficiencies is listed as the ESCO or Vendor:
    • The median amount requested is $678,209.78
    • On average it will take just under 12 years (11.96) for each of these projects to ‘pay off’ based on the up front investment over the annual savings
    • Most notably, a project for Jefferson Parish, requested $972,654.15 for a project to save 314,920 kWh annually. That’s $3.09 per kW, that will take 21.35 years in annual savings to reach the initial capital costs 
  • In contrast, the one other proposal, submitted by St. John the Baptist Parish School Board in partnership with Green Coast Enterprises requested $85,000 to reduce 2,087,829 kWh ($.04 per kWh) and the savings are expected to be realized in 6 months.

The stark differences in savings led to further investigation into the 9 projects led by Brilliant Efficiencies. These energy efficient upgrades include:
  • 443 FL23- 300w Series flood lighting for residential and recreational upgrades in the City of Eunice @ $1,342.00
  • 64 FL12 Series Flood lighting applicable for “Industrial Area” at $1,342.00 each for the Point Coupee School Board
  • 144 FL23- 300w Series flood lighting for BREC’s tennis courts at $1,340.00 each
  • 46 GC201 Series High Bay Lighting for the City of Baker at $790.00
  • Alltemp M: an alternative refrigerant (R22 replacement) for HVAC systems, however at the time it was included in the proposal, it had not yet been approved for use.

Furthermore, the supporting documentation including the specifications of these lights are the exact same spec sheets linked to above except that the LumEfficient logo and contact info at the bottom of the page has been replaced with Brilliant Efficiencies.
Considering Brilliant Efficiencies website was non-functional during late 2017, LumEfficient appeared to be the only distributor of said lights, and they were contacted regarding a price quote on the models requested. After navigating through the supplier, wholesaler and eventually distributor, the price quote for a random sample size of these lights was consistently 50% less expensive than what Brilliant Efficiencies proposed. 

These ten Energy Efficient proposals were approved at the December 2017 B & E meeting the same day the Commission altered the program rules to require more stringent cost effectiveness for future applications.

This is extremely concerning, not only because of the exorbitant costs to ratepayers, but also because this play by Brilliant Efficiencies has the potential to derail the State’s Energy Efficiency program. These inflated costs to ratepayers could be used to make an argument against Energy Efficiency due to a lack of cost effectiveness. However, the one proposal led by St. John the Baptist Parish School Board in partnership with Green Coast Enterprises stands in contrast to prove that if done correctly, Energy Efficiency most certainly is cost effective. St. John the Baptist School Board will have saved $3,567,920.95 in the 21 years that it will take Jefferson Parish to meet their capital costs based on their annual savings. 

Energy Efficiency is by far our cheapest energy resource, yet if proposals are not subject to any cost effectiveness test, Louisiana ratepayers are on the hook to pay inflated costs to an apparent fly-by-night energy service company. Is Energy Efficiency going to just be business as usual in Louisiana or will we hold our Energy Efficiency program to task of savings Louisiana residents millions of dollars?



New Analysis Finds a Strong Economic Case for Resilient Solar and Battery Storage in Five Southeastern Cities

4/25/2019

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Clean Energy Group’s new report series explores the obstacles and opportunities for deploying solar+storage at critical community facilities throughout the Southeast

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Entergy’s Misrepresented Outage Data

4/24/2019

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City Council has ordered Entergy New Orleans to share bi-monthly reports of power outages. After comparing the outages with those reported by the news media, thousands of outages have been uncovered that Entergy failed to record.

​By Madeline Thomas

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Alliance for Affordable Energy
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P.O. Box 751133
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Copyright © 2020 · Alliance for Affordable Energy
  • Home
  • Who
  • What
    • Consumer Protection and Education >
      • Regulate Our Pipelines
      • Health Impact Assessment
    • Clean Energy >
      • Renewable Portfolio Standard- NOLA
    • Energy Efficiency >
      • EEFA
    • Past Work
  • How
    • New Orleans City Council
    • New Orleans Dockets >
      • UD-20-02 2021 IRP
      • UD-20-01 Streamline
      • UD-19-01 RPS
      • UD-18-07 ENO Rate Case
      • UD-18-05 RFP
      • UD-18-02 EV Charging
      • UD-18-01 Smart Cities
      • UD-17-04 Reliability
      • UD-17-03 IRP (2018)
    • LA Public Service Commission
    • Lawsuits & Appeals
  • News
    • The Watchdog
    • People's Power Hour
    • Events Calendar
  • Learn
    • Glossary
    • Reports
  • Get Involved
    • Support
    • Intern and Volunteer
    • Contact Us