news release > entergy new orleans and entergy louisiana ceos meet with d.c. lawmakers

entergy new orleans and entergy louisiana ceos meet with d.c. lawmakers

11/02/2021

entergy is committed to helping louisiana build a stronger and more resilient electric infrastructure and mitigating bill impacts on customers following the severe weather events of 2020 and 2021.

deanna rodriguez, president and ceo of entergy new orleans, and phillip may, president and ceo of entergy louisiana, traveled to washington, d.c. last week to meet with the louisiana delegation’s two members of the senate and all six members of the house of representatives to advocate for federal funding to reduce the impact on customers for storm recovery costs and to build a stronger power grid. building electrical infrastructure strong enough to withstand the increased intensity and frequency of storms is a long-term commitment that must include input from customers, regulators and government policymakers.

“we all agree that investments in hardening the electric grid are necessary, but they are not small investments,” said rodriguez. “entergy must balance investments in hardening while considering both the increasingly intense hurricane activity to our area and our customer populations that may be struggling to pay their bills.”

“entergy has invested billions of dollars in improvements over the last several years across louisiana to harden the electrical system to make it more resilient to storms,” said may. "these investments were critical in helping louisiana recover as quickly as we did following hurricane ida’s destructive land fall. we are considering all available avenues to recover storm-related costs in a manner that will minimize the effects on customers, including both federal government assistance and securitization financing.”

“in new orleans, the cost of storm repairs for hurricane ida alone is comparable to the cost of more than 10 years of storms. the extreme cost makes it undeniable that federal assistance is necessary so that ratepayers don’t shoulder this unaffordable burden. at the same time, we must build back better. the council has begun the process to create a plan for upgrades and strengthening of our grid. identifiable projects and costs will be essential to apply for and receive federal dollars. we must all advocate in a unified manner for federal assistance not only for the benefit of the ratepayer, but also for a sustainable future of our city,” said helena moreno, new orleans city council president,

“it is important to realize that federal aid to louisiana’s utilities is not a subsidy to utility shareholders.  federal funding for resiliency directly not only offsets additional rate increases customers would otherwise be faced with to ensure that louisiana’s power infrastructure is prepared for future storms, but such preparation further decreases costs customers realize every time they have to pay to rebuild the system,” said craig greene, commissioner, louisiana public service commission.

from 2016 – 2020, entergy louisiana and new orleans invested $2.5 billion in new transmission facilities. these investments enhance reliability, connect new customers, and reduce congestion on the system, better ensuring access to the lowest cost generation. 

the entergy utilities also have invested nearly $2.6 billion in distribution assets during the same five-year period. this strategic funding includes investments in new technologies to improve power quality including distribution automation, self-healing networks, and advanced metering infrastructure. each utility operating company also has plans to continue strengthening and expanding the capabilities of its distribution grid in order to make it more reliable and resilient and to incorporate new distributed energy resources.

to meet the intensity of future weather events, entergy recognizes the need for accelerated system hardening, as well as continuing to advance its preventive maintenance programs including vegetation management and pole inspections. preliminary estimates related to hurricane ida cost recovery are $2.0 billion to $2.4 billion for entergy louisiana and $120 million to $150 million for entergy new orleans.

entergy new orleans, llc is an electric and gas utility that serves louisiana’s orleans parish. the company provides electricity to more than 205,000 customers and natural gas to more than 108,000 customers.

entergy louisiana, llc provides electric service to more than 1 million customers and natural gas service to more than 93,000 customers in the greater baton rouge area. it has operations in southern, central and northern louisiana.

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