NEW ORLEANS - Newly-named Utility Committee Chair and Council Vice-President Helena Moreno formally advised Entergy New Orleans (ENO) via letter of the deadline to produce documents and materials in relation to the independent investigation of ENO's actions during the New Orleans Power Station (NOPS) process, which was unanimously approved at the meeting on May 24.
The motion (M-18-196) spelled out a detailed list of documents ENO must produce by June 8. See the letter here.
On May 24, 2018, the Council voted unanimously to retain an experienced independent investigator to probe allegations that ENO hired professional actors to attend one or more Council meetings that were held to discuss the proposed NOPS (see public notice here). ENO has applied for approval to build NOPS at the site of the retired Michoud station in New Orleans East.
An internal investigation by ENO confirmed that actors were paid to support the application with t-shirts, signs and, in some cases, speaking in support of NOPS. However, ENO has denied any involvement with the alleged conduct, placing blame on third-party contractors.
The Council condemned the conduct uniformly and committed to discovering all of the relevant facts through a vigorous and transparent independent investigation by an experienced third-party investigator.
To assist the investigator, who will be selected through a request for proposals (RFQ) process (see RFQ here), the Council directed ENO to produce all documents, communications, papers, books, records, contracts, interviews and investigation materials related to the alleged conduct by Friday, June 8.
Once those documents are received by the Council Clerk, they will be protected and preserved for use by the independent investigator. The Council also expedited the RFQ selection process to provide for review completion no later than June 21, and directed that once engaged, the independent investigator must complete the investigation within 30 days.
The Council will update the public accordingly.
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Contact:
Andrew Tuozzolo
Chief of Staff
Office of Councilmember-at-Large Helena Moreno
AVTuozzolo@nola.gov
(504) 281-9882