As Entergy asks for $1B, New Orleans to OK $100M spend to harden city's grid
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The New Orleans City Council's Climate Committee is expected to approve just over $100 million in grid-hardening projects Tuesday.
Why it matters: Entergy New Orleans has put on a full-court press for months, urging New Orleanians through mailers, text messages, emails, billboards, social media posts and TV commercials to ask council members to OK its $1 billion plan.
- While today's expected approval is the first step in that process, it also represents an alternative pace to Entergy's proposed process for strengthening the city's grid.
Yes, but: The projects up for discussion Tuesday, which the council describes as "the largest single upgrade to the New Orleans grid in history,'' are a fraction of what Entergy says the city needs.
Catch up quick: After extended outages from Hurricane Ida in 2021 proved New Orleans' grid needed an upgrade, City Council asked Entergy for a list of projects to bring the system up to speed.
- Last April, Entergy presented its list — about 670 projects and a $1 billion price tag.
- The utility hoped for a thumbs up by the end of 2023, ramping up its calls for public support in October. That's also when it got approval for a $55 million federal grant supporting the first three projects, including transmission and distribution upgrades and battery storage.
- Still, the new year came and went, and City Council had yet to sign off on the local match for that grant, let alone either Entergy's full $1 billion list or its $559 million Phase One.
Between the lines: An unequivocal "yes" from City Council was always going to be a hard sell, especially as New Orleanians struggle with rising costs of living and long memories involving frustrations with the utility.
- Instead, council members have asked Entergy to seek alternative funding sources, rather than solely tasking customers to pay the grid-hardening bill through rate increases.
- Entergy securing October's $55 million federal grant is one example of that, and the utility is pursuing additional federal money.
What she's saying: "While we know that it is critical to strengthen the grid against outages, these major investments shouldn't be solely paid for by Entergy New Orleans customers," says New Orleans City Council President Helena Moreno in a press release.
Zoom in: City Council on Tuesday is expected to propose an alternative to wholesale approval of the $1 billion Entergy New Orleans plan, and instead ask the utility to focus on a three-year cadence of grid-hardening projects.
- That cadence would tie funding approvals with "accountability and metrics" standards and resident involvement, a release says, beginning with the funds to match October's $55 million federal grant.
Think of it this way: Entergy has asked New Orleans to approve a $1 billion, price fixe menu of projects paced out over a decade.
- But City Council will ask for an á la carte, pay-as-you-go option.
Be smart: New Orleans' City Council serves as a direct regulating body for the utility.
- Elsewhere in the state, Entergy Louisiana, a separate entity from Entergy New Orleans, answers to the Public Service Commission.
- That institution is mulling another nearly $10 billion grid-hardening plan the utility has proposed.
What's next: City Council's Climate Committee meets at 10am Tuesday.
- Representatives from Entergy New Orleans are expected to present.