News

November 7, 2019

Helena Moreno, City Council

City Council Approves Rate Order to Lower Customer Rates as well as $1M Fine for Entergy New Orleans

City Council Approves Rate Order to Lower Customer Rates as well as $1M Fine for Entergy New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS - Today, the Council authorized a rate order for Entergy New Orleans (ENO) to lower citywide rates for customers and build a pathway towards a cleaner energy future. The approved rate order reduces average residential bills by up to an estimated $3 a month while providing significant advancements on climate and equity issues. 

Additionally, Resolution R-19-457 accomplishes the following:

  • Freezes the regressive minimum charge;
  • Allows customers to participate in a 'green option' to optionally purchase more clean energy; 
  • Creates a sustained investment in the Council's nationally-acclaimed Energy Smart program; and
  • Shields Algiers customers through their transition into the ENO service territory.

"The result of this rate case balances a strong win for New Orleans people with lower rates, more affordability, and more options while providing fair treatment for all stakeholders," said Council President Moreno. "We realize that the people of this city are faced with many financial pressures coming from every direction. Knowing this, we fought to deliver the best deal possible to reduce their bills and provide a positive path for the City's energy future for years to come."

Councilmember Moreno continued, "As I said today, we all know there have been other ideas and suggestions offered by ENO, and I remain open to revisiting all opportunities for coordination on infrastructure. We hope to continue conversations on those issues. It's critical that any proposal be heard in a public, transparent manner that invites all interested parties to the table in order to ensure proper vetting. I continue to welcome further filings to explore options that truly benefit the people of New Orleans."

In a separate resolution, the Council also approved a $1M fine for ENO following an investigation into the long-running system reliability problems responsible for numerous electric outages that plagued the city from 2014 through 2017. 

"The Council conducted an investigation over the last year, and it resulted in a series of findings that supported that ENO did not act prudently in preventing and reacting to the numerous outages. ENO has a primary obligation to provide reliable electric service to its customers. The investigation confirmed my concerns that they were not living up to this obligation. As a result, tens of thousands of residents, businesses and visitors were severely inconvenienced over the course of several years. I think this $1M fine will go a long way to assuring that will never happen again," said District "D" Councilmember Jared Brossett.

 

 

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Media Contact:

Andrew Tuozzolo

Chief of Staff

Office of Councilmember-at-Large Helena Moreno

AVTuozzolo@nola.gov 

(504) 281-9882

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