Entergy

The state Public Service Commission voted along party lines to end a program to save energy and money for residential customers — who already top the US in electricity use.

Citing few renewable options and projected price jumps, industries in one state propose their own power generation, free from monopoly utilities.

Entergy Louisiana wants to add a new storm fee to its customers’ electric bills to recover funds it spent on repairs from Hurricane Francine.

The approval in New Orleans is part of a larger, $484 million deal that will see Entergy turn over all of its natural gas distribution assets to the firm.

Entergy Louisiana and New Orleans customers are currently charged for both gas and electric services in a single utility bill each month. But the potential sale of their natural gas operations to Bernhard Capital Partners’ new subsidiary, Delta Utilities, could produce two bills instead of one — and possibly charge more for gas.

The company wants a decision made by Friday — just days after it filed the final draft of the proposal.

The average New Orleans resident in 2019 paid about $112 per month. In 2022, that same customer using the same amount of electricity would pay $179 per month — a 60% increase.

Power bill disputes usually sway in the utility company's favor. But as this New Orleans renter's story shows, there are ways customers can get answers.

While land is subsiding throughout the city, industry water use has exacerbated the problem in one predominantly Black and Vietnamese area.

New Orleans City Council members said that bills have hit “unaffordable levels,” and vulnerable and elderly residents are subject to dangerous temperatures if they can’t pay.