The purpose of the plan is for Entergy (ENO) to demonstrate to the Council how it plans to meet its obligation to provide increasing levels of clean energy to satisfy demand for the next three years. On October 10, the Alliance for Affordable Energy filed comments with the Council on ENO’s plan.
First, ENO is seeking credit for what it calls “large event electrification”, which amounts to providing a connection to the electric grid for events, such as those hosted at Woldenberg Park, that have previously relied on fossil generators to power. While electrifying these events is a worthwhile goal, it has nothing to do whatsoever with providing renewable energy to the City. What it amounts to is simply an opportunity for ENO to sell more electricity from its current generation portfolio, which is largely fueled with fossil gas. When the Council adopted the RCPS, it stated clearly that the “primary purpose of the RCPS will be to eliminate carbon emissions from the Utility’s generation portfolio, and that Beneficial Electrification has the potential to prolong the extent to which the Utility may keep carbon emitting resources in its portfolio.” In simpler terms, that means that granting ENO compliance credit for “large event electrification” is likely to achieve the opposite of the intended effect of the RCPS by increasing ENO’s greenhouse gas emissions. We have urged the Council to reject ENO’s proposal to count “large event electrification” as an eligible resource.
Similarly, but even more audaciously, ENO is also seeking compliance credit for both the electrification of the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board and for any and all community solar projects developed in the City, regardless of whether ENO has a hand in developing them. This is a brazen ask, considering that ENO balked on its previous commitment of $30M to help finance the electrification project at the S&WB and has actively opposed the deployment of community solar in New Orleans, most recently by fighting the implementation of consumer-friendly consolidated billing that helps customers to understand clearly the benefits of their community solar subscriptions.
ENO’s primary compliance still comes from dirty nuclear energy and purchased renewable energy certificates, meaning the RCPS has not done as much as it could to change ENO’s practices. Instead of providing ENO an easy out by giving them the compliance credit for projects that would happen with or without its involvement, the Council should require ENO’s compliance plan to focus on the “primary purpose” of the RCPS: reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of its generation portfolio.
