Category: New Orleans City Council - Alliance for Affordable Energy

New Orleans City Council approves an increase in electric & gas revenues for Entergy New Orleans

9/12/2023

At the New Orleans City Council's September 7th Regular Meeting Councilmembers unanimously approved Resolution No. R-23-423 authorizing "an agreement in principle related to the 2023 electric and gas formula rate plan (FRP) filings" in Docket UD-18-07. A Formula Rate Plan (FRP) is a ratemaking method in which the utility adjusts its base rates outside of a general rate case. The approved agreement grants Entergy New Orleans an increase of $1.65M in electric revenues and $6.9M in methane revenues.

While this revenue will be collected through a charge on customers bills, electric customers will not experience an increase in their bills because incoming bill credits from a settlement in Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) docket EL 18-152 (related to the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station) will offset these costs. The average gas customer will see an increase of $4.93 on their monthly bill.

Are you having issues with Entergy New Orleans?

7/13/2023

Entergy New Orleans (ENO) customers with grievances can submit a formal complaint to the New Orleans City Council using the utility complaint form recently added to their website.

As a ratepayer you have the right to “safe and reliable service in accordance with industry standards,” guaranteed to you by the utility Ratepayer Bill of Rights. The Alliance for Affordable Energy and Citizens for Change worked with the New Orleans City Council and ENO to develop this Ratepayer Bill of Rights, and in 2007 the Council codified it into law.

The law states: “If you feel that the Utility has violated your rights or is in violation of its Customer Service Regulations, you have the right to participate in the Customer Complaint and Dispute Resolution Process."

The Alliance encourages you to exercise your rights as a ratepayer and take advantage of this dispute resolution process if needed; and as your consumer advocate we're here to help.

It's time for Community Solar Rules that produce results

6/22/2023

By Jesse George, AAE's New Orleans Policy Director

In April of this year, the New Orleans City Council took action on a motion by Madison Energy Investments to amend the City’s community solar rules. The Council granted Madison’s motion in part, increasing the eligible project size from 2MW to 5MW, and re-opened the docket for comment by stakeholders on a variety of issues.

Since the Council adopted the City’s community solar rules in 2019, there has been no development in community solar. Quite simply, the current rules do not provide adequate financial incentive to community solar developers.

New Reliability Standards for Entergy New Orleans are a First Step Towards Keeping the Lights On

2/15/2023

By Jesse George, AAE New Orleans Policy Director

At a joint meeting of the New Orleans City Council’s Utility, Cable, Telecommunications and Technology (UCTTC) and Climate and Sustainability Committees last week on Wednesday, February 8, the Council adopted minimum electric reliability standards for Entergy New Orleans LLC, making New Orleans the first regulatory jurisdiction in the South to have such standards for an investor-owned utility.

The standards are based on calculations known as System Average Interruption Frequency Index and System Average Interruption Duration Index, or SAIFI and SAIDI. Essentially, these scores together indicate the average number of outages for a utility customer and the average length of time, in minutes, of those outages.

FERC Decision is a Victory for Louisiana Ratepayers

12/29/2022

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has released a decision siding with the Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) in its dispute against System Energy Resources, Inc. (SERI), a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation (Entergy).

FERC's decision reaffirms regulatory and advocate concerns that Entergy has systematically overcharged ratepayers across the states of Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana for over two decades for costs related to its ownership, and mismanagement, of the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station in Port Gibson, Mississippi.

The Votes Are In…Now the Work Really Begins

12/12/2022

By Emma Meyerkopf, AAE's Communications Coordinator

Elections are over and you might be wondering who was elected to represent Louisianans at the Public Service Commission (LPSC)?

As you may already know, District 4 was decided on November 8 and incumbent Mike Francis was re-elected to the Commission. District 3 was just decided on December 10 and challenger Davante Lewis was elected to the Commission.

Over the last 4 months Louisianans have been involved in choosing who will represent them, but now the work really begins.

Energy Smart Should Benefit Those Most in Need

11/2/2022

On September 15, 2022 the New Orleans City Council issued Resolution No. R-22-413, establishing a new docket (UD-22-04) to consider changes to the Energy Smart energy efficiency and conservation program as well as potential Council policy with respect to demand-side management and customer-owned distributed energy resources and energy storage.

The Council is seeking to make the benefits of Energy Smart more accessible to ratepayers and to accelerate the adoption and deployment of energy-saving technologies, including solar and battery storage systems.

The Alliance Calls for Extension of Entergy New Orleans Shutoff Moratorium

10/31/2022

On Friday, October 28, 2022 the Alliance for Affordable Energy and Delta Audubon sent a letter to the New Orleans City Council calling on the Council to extend the service shutoff moratorium for Entergy New Orleans (ENO) residential customers set to expire on Tuesday, November 1.

20,000 accounts are at risk of disconnection. That is, tens of thousands of children and elders who will be left in the cold and the dark on this Council’s watch, unless you act on behalf of your constituents. Telling vulnerable people to rely on ENO’s subpar customer service to apply for a three or four month deferred payment option is not a solution. At best, it is kicking the can down the road, as methane, or natural gas prices remain high and ENO has applied for approximately $170M in costs related to Hurricane Ida that will drive up bills even further.

While the moratorium is set to expire, Entergy New Orleans (ENO) announced on Friday, October 28 that it raised quarterly dividend payments to shareholders by 6%. The City cannot abide any more loss of life due to Entergy’s greed and negligence - justice demands it.

City of New Orleans to Offer Utility Assistance to Eligible Renters in Danger of Service Disconnection

8/3/2022

Originally Published by The Mayor's Office
July 29, 2022

The Mayor's Office of Housing Policy and Community Development will host a community-based outreach event to provide financial assistance to eligible renters who are at risk of electric or water disconnection.

The event will take place on Wednesday, August 3 and Thursday, August 4 from 9am - 3 pm at the Joe Brown Park Recreational Center located at 5601 Read Blvd. Translators and legal assistance will be available onsite.

Am I eligable?
Residents who have applied for rental assistance through the City of New Orleans but have not received utility assistance can attend the outreach event.

Entergy offered a $588M settlement to end allegations at Grand Gulf. Should Louisiana agree? By Sam Karlin

7/7/2022

Article by Sam Karlin
Originally Published on The Advocate
July 7, 2022

Amid wide-ranging allegations that it soaked ratepayers for inflated costs at its troubled Grand Gulf nuclear power plant, which serves customers in three states, Entergy has struck a settlement with Mississippi, agreeing to refund the state $300 million.

But it’s not yet clear if regulators in Louisiana will opt into the deal, and some officials are skeptical.

The Alliance's take: This plant has been a problem from the jump. Louisianans are owed far more than this pittance and we’re glad to see regulators in the state indicate the same sentiment.

Entergy New Orleans Reliability Judgment

6/14/2022

On Monday, June 13, 2022, Orleans Parish Civil District Court Judge Rachael Johnson issued a ruling from the bench granting Entergy New Orleans’ petition for injunctive relief from a $1M fine that the New Orleans City Council imposed in 2019 as a result of routine reliability issues.

The Council opened docket UD-17-04 in 2017 to investigate Entergy’s decision to defer maintenance and upgrades to its distribution system. The Council, as the utility’s regulator, concluded that Entergy had acted imprudently and penalized the company accordingly. Entergy immediately filed suit for injunctive relief, claiming that the Council had not created reliability standards to which it could be held accountable.

New Orleans City Council Climate Committee votes to ban carbon capture & sequestration facilities and pipelines

6/3/2022

Yesterday the New Orleans City Council Climate Committee voted to ban carbon capture & sequestration facilities and pipelines. The resolution, R-22-219, will now go to the full Council for a vote.

What is carbon capture and sequestration?
“Carbon capture and sequestration” or “CCS” refers to unproven technologies intended to prevent carbon dioxide (CO2) from reaching the atmosphere and contributing to climate change. Plans for CCS involve either collecting CO2 from industrial facilities or removing it from the air. Once collected or removed, the CO2 is either injected underground for disposal or used in the production of more fossil fuels.

Why is The Alliance concerned about CCS?
The coal, oil, and gas industry touts CCS as a “solution” to climate change. But CCS projects have consistently overpromised and underperformed, when they have not failed completely. CCS benefits the petrochemical and pipeline companies by enabling these industries to keep expanding profits while supposedly offsetting their emissions. What's worse? CCS poses significant environmental, health and safety risks to our communities and will have disproportionate affects on Black and Native communities. A report from May 2021 by the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council concluded that carbon capture storage projects will not benefit communities.

We don't want this expensive, unproven technology in our city. Tell your Councilmember to vote "yes" on Resolution 22-219!

Entergy’s Misrepresented Outage Data

4/24/2019

By Madeline Thomas, AAE Research & Development Intern

Due to reliability issues with Entergy New Orleans' (ENO) power grid, City Council ordered ENO to share bi-monthly reports detailing every outage in Orleans Parish.

Since June 2017, ENO has been providing Customer Outage Data to City Council, Alliance for Affordable Energy (AAE), and other intervening parties in their Reliability docket (UD-17-04).

After comparing the outages with those reported by the news media, thousands of outages have been uncovered that Entergy failed to record.

actors were paid to 'support' Entergy's gas plant proposal

3/11/2018

Andrew Wiseman was paid $120 to act in support of Entergy's proposed peaking gas power plant.

Entergy wants a Blank Check. New Orleans can’t afford to give it to them.

3/7/2018

Charles Rice sent a letter to council members arguing that the idea of the city council conditioning approval of a gas plant with citizen protections is outrageous. As far as we can tell, he wants to make a risky bet with our money, and he is showing his hand.

To defend or not to defend New Orleans...

1/22/2018

The question to New Orleans City Council members:
Protect NOLA and build a resilient future where the power stays on
OR
Force New Orleanians to pay for over-priced, unnecessary, and dangerous technology- every month, for the next 30 years

Get up to Speed on New Orleans’ Integrated Resource Plan

2/15/2013

New Orleans is rapidly moving forward with energy efficiency and preparing to make major decisions on how we meet our energy needs for the next twenty years.

ACEE Provides Guidance on Energy Efficiency in Louisiana

1/30/2013

The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy ( http://aceee.org/ ) has announced that it will be releasing an in-depth report on opportunities for energy efficiency in the state of Louisiana and suggestions for program design and implimentation.

Policy Update 1/8/2013

1/8/2013

Net-Meter Backlog Leaves Orleans Parish Solar Residents in the Dark.

Intern & Volunteer

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New Orleans, LA 70175

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