What to know about New Orleans' new natural gas utility

Catch up quick: Entergy New Orleans, which for decades has been the city's sole energy provider, is in the process of completing a sale of its natural gas business to the newly formed Delta Utilities.

• The City Council, which regulates Entergy New Orleans, approved the sale in December, but Delta wasn't expected to take over ownership or operations until this summer.
• Delta has already completed its acquisition of Centerpoint Energy, which operates natural gas on the North Shore, as well as in Southwest and Northwest Louisiana and parts of Mississippi.

Between the lines: Prior to the City Council's approval, some consumer advocates and council advisers shared concerns that a private equity-backed utility might result in higher customer rates and create a conflict around New Orleans' environmental concerns, according to Verite.

• "The idea of creating a new utility whose sole business is selling fossil gas seems just completely contradictory to all of our climate goals," Jesse George, the Alliance for Affordable Energy's policy director, told Verite last summer. "It's totally antithetical to our climate and clean energy goals and the steps that we absolutely must take to make this city habitable for the future."

The other side: In seeking the City Council's approval, Delta Utilities promised not to raise rates for 15 months, Verite reports.

By the numbers: New Orleans will make up about 109,000 of Delta Utilities' customers.

• In total, the business expects to be a $1.7 billion organization and serve nearly 600,000 customers, according to a press release. That would put it among the nation's top 40 natural gas providers.
• Natural gas made up about $180 million of Entergy's 2023 operating revenue, compared to about $11.8 billion in electric revenue.

How it works: Delta Utilities says that existing Entergy natural gas customers don't have to do anything to see their services continue. Existing billing cycles, level billing options and payment preferences will continue, too.

• Who sends the bills will change. Auto-pay users will need to re-enroll with Delta, and details about how to do so will arrive with customers' first bill, a Delta spokesperson says.
• In the future, households and businesses will see two bills: One from Entergy for their electric usage, and one from Delta Utilities for their natural gas, the utility reported to the City Council this month.

What's next: The Entergy New Orleans sale is expected to finalize in the coming weeks, with an automatic transfer for customer accounts in July, the Delta representative says.