Entergy New Orleans customers are poised to avoid a regular rate increase on their electric bills this year after the utility agreed to a deal to lower its proposed rate hike and have the rest offset by credits.
The City Council will vote on the agreement Sept. 7th. If approved, residential customers would see rates stay steady--around $143 per month for a typical customer--for the next year, starting in September.
Entergy’s residential gas customers, however, would see a roughly $5-a-month increase to their bills, according to the filing.
Entergy New Orleans had sought a rate hike that would have seen customer bills rise by over $7 a month, but the City Council’s consultants worked out a deal that lowered that amount by about half, and covered the rest of the increase with various credits, including some funds related to litigation over Entergy’s troubled Grand Gulf nuclear plant. The offsets mean customers won’t see any increase.
Entergy New Orleans spokesperson Beau Tidwell confirmed the company agreed to the deal, which he said would “significantly reduce” the rate hike from the utility’s initial request.
The filing keeps rates steady at a time when customers around the state have seen rising bills due to record heat and hurricane surcharges, as well as reliability problems, all of which have drawn regulators’ attention.
Separately, customers of Entergy Louisiana, which operates outside of New Orleans, may see bills rise by $8 a month on average starting next year, if the Louisiana Public Service Commission approves a rate increase proposed by the utility. The New Orleans City Council only regulates Entergy New Orleans.
Logan Burke, executive director of the Alliance for Affordable Energy, said it’s a win for customers not to see another shock to their bills.
Still, Burke said the organization is concerned about the increase to gas customers’ bills, and said programs should be set up to help switch low-income customers from gas to electric heating and cooking systems.
Separate from the rate agreement filed this week, a $1 billion plan proposed by Entergy New Orleans to bolster the electric grid is still pending. And Verite News reported consultants for the City Council recently issued a report verifying that Entergy New Orleans can collect about $170 million in Hurricane Ida costs. Both of those plans come with higher price tags for customers.
Burke said the money destined for New Orleans from a contentious and yearslong battle over Grand Gulf could help offset the Hurricane Ida costs, which would bring relief to customers in a city where low-income residents struggle with high bills. Entergy claims it doesn’t owe additional refunds, but the PSC and City Council say a ruling this week by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) reaffirms the utility has to pay up.
Entergy is seeking a settlement agreement with the regulators over a larger case at FERC over whether it has imprudently operated the massive Grand Gulf nuclear plant in Mississippi over years. That case could bring additional refunds to customers.
“Entergy understands the remaining case at FERC, which is the biggest one., Entergy understands they are likely to lose that one,” Burke said. “They are playing every trick they can come up with before FERC tells them they have to pay $1 billion.”
Entergy Louisiana spokesperson Brandon Scardigli said in an email that FERC didn’t order it to take further action on the case, saying the company believes the agency is not requiring it to pay more refunds. Entergy made a similar statement last December after FERC broadly sided with regulators, drawing the ire of the City Council and PSC.
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September 01, 2023 at 02:26AM
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Entergy New Orleans electric customers are poised to avoid rate hike. See why. - NOLA.com
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