Following the presentation and questions from Councilmembers, Jesse George, the Alliance for Affordable Energy’s New Orleans Policy Director, gave a comment.
”Over a third [of outages] were from equipment failures, and 43% were during days of fair weather. This to me points to poor maintenance of equipment,” said Jesse George. “We know that Entergy routinely brags about cutting maintenance spending to increase shareholder dividends, and this, what we’re experiencing and these issues of reliability, is the byproduct of that. While Entergy is failing to meet its end of the regulatory contract by providing safe and reliable service, ratepayers are still suffering,” continued George.
Watch the recording of the meeting below, or on our Youtube (Jesse gives comment at 1:05:00). You can also read his full comments below.
Presentation from Entergy New Orleans on recent outages. Jesse George, AAE's New Orleans Policy Director, gives comment: "We know that Entergy routinely brags about cutting maintenance spending to increase shareholder dividends, and this, what we’re experiencing and these issues of reliability, is the byproduct of that."
“I’d like to thank Councilmember Giarrusso for pointing to the more recent outage data from the 1st quarter of this year, because it presents a clearer picture of outages as compared to what Entergy presented here today. While there was a slight decrease in customer interruptions between 2022 and 2023, the outages for the first quarter of this year are nearly double that of the first quarter of 2023. So it’s a little premature to declare a trend of improvement in reliability at this point. I’d also like to point out that 35% of these failures or outages are due to equipment failures, more than a third. [Today we’ve been] talking about vegetation, we’re talking about animals – those two things combined only accounted for 16% of total outages; whereas over a third were from equipment failures, and 43% were during days of fair weather. This to me points to poor maintenance of equipment. We know that Entergy routinely brags about cutting maintenance spending to increase shareholder dividends, and this, what we’re experiencing and these issues of reliability, is the byproduct of that.
While Entergy is failing to meet its end of the regulatory contract by providing safe and reliable service, ratepayers are still suffering. I appreciate Councilmember Moreno’s question about whether Entergy is in compliance with the Council’s current reliability standards. We have pushed, since those standards were adopted, for them to be stronger. Mr. Rogers suggests they are a bare minimum and that the Council hopes that Entergy will exceed them. I would submit that as regulators you should set the standard at the level you expect Entergy to perform and then enforce that standard. Two weeks ago the Energy Future New Orleans Coalition (EFNO) sent a letter to this body calling for an end to utility disconnections and the establishment of an arrearage management program using Entergy settlement funds. Ratepayers need relief now while Entergy continues to work on its reliability.”
