“Citizens all over Louisiana should rail against it.”

Lead us. Tell us whom to write and call for maximum effectiveness. Will Gov. Jindal take up the cause for competitive utilities after Gustav and Ike? We have to have pressure bearing down on Entergy to budge them.

Thank you, Shelly Midura.

Entergy deserves a lot more, and relentless, exposure. I am fed up with Entergy, and angry over our recent bills– and have resented them since Katrina. We missed our chance to get off the “grid” as a community, but it may not be too late in smaller ways. That also needs more exposure, and definite solutions in cooperation with local government.

Any idea why the other three Entergy units (Texas, Louisiana, Gulf States) aren’t as well informed as Midura and expressing any outrage over the Arkansas and Mississippi desire to get out of this agreement?

It strikes me that our City Council for decades has managed its oversight of Entergy about as well as its other franchises and the airport, for the benefit of well paid consultants rather than the citizens and rate payers.

I give Councilwoman Madura credit for taking them to task but I don’t know what we can really do. It’s the one bill we all have to pay and there is no competitor. I would like to hear more ideas on how we get a company back under control that we can’t live without.

I just moved here from Houston. There is competition there. The bills are a lot higher in Houston than New Orleans. The truth is that Entergy’s bills are very reasonable and New Orleanians that constantly complain about the lack of competition should look around. The grass is not always greener.

What I find morally indefensible is that writers like Clancy don’t get business…which is why New Orleans has such a bad business climate. As I read ther articles on this issue, it’s a contract. Period. If Entergy New Orleans doesn’t uphold the contract it signed, then why should anyone uphold the contracts signed with Entergy New Orleans. Same goes for Gambit. Think Clancy would fight a contract that involves his business if it meant none of his contracts would hold true anymore? Please.

Clancy, get a clue. This is the most outrageously one-sided writing I have ever seen posted by someone that purports to be a journalist. You didn’t find it odd that this trumped up crises arose only after Shelly’s lawyers needed a big pay raise. According to BGR figures, Shelly will spend more money on her pet lawyers than the city spends on street maintenance. To your point, “it is not so difficult to see why.”

Clancy - I won’t begrudge you your point of view. But, if you are going to hold yourself out as a journalist, you have an obligation to report both sides of this issue. Your apparent animosity toward Entergy is clouding your judgment.

Your statements about Entergy putting the screws to customers are completely unjustified. Entergy successfully lobbied for $200 million in CDBG funds that went dollar for dollar to reduce customers’ bills after Katrina. The company did not benefit from those funds. Entergy settled its differences with the Council in 2003 over the System Agreement and ENO recieved 100 MWs of capacity from the River Bend nuclear plant as well as low cost coal and nuclear capacity from Arkansas. In many of her presentations over the last several years, Councilwoman Midura has touted that settlement as being a great deal for customers in New Orleans.

The recent dispute concerns a legal interpretation of the System Agreement. That dispute will be decided by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Local bashing of Entergy (the only Fortune 500 company headquartered in N.O.) is not going to affect the outcome of that litigation.

When is the last time you did a story in Gambit about the 4,000 Entergy employees in Louisiana, the millions of dollars that Entergy’s shareholders and employees contribute to state-wide and local non-profit organizations, the thousands of volunteer hours that Entergy’s employees work in the community every year, or the support Entergy has shown to local schools and colleges?

After Katrina, Entergy could have pulled up stakes like many other companies have done. Is it possible to have a reasonable debate about complex issues without treating Entergy and its employees like villains? Show some leadership and open a discussion that includes both sides of the issue.

Well, first of all, I’m glad that Entergy supporters are reading this blog as well as those who don’t trust the utility. I’d like to answer those who question my judgment on this. Let’s start with Jill, who just moved here from Houston.
Jill writes:
“What I find morally indefensible is that writers like Clancy don’t get business…which is why New Orleans has such a bad business climate. As I read ther articles on this issue, it’s a contract. Period. If Entergy New Orleans doesn’t uphold the contract it signed, then why should anyone uphold the contracts signed with Entergy New Orleans. Same goes for Gambit. Think Clancy would fight a contract that involves his business if it meant none of his contracts would hold true anymore? Please.”
Jill, you are absolutely correct: this is about a contract. My beef with Entergy New Orleans is that it is letting its sister companies PULL OUT of that contract instead of stepping up and enforcing the terms of that contract. And by the way, that contract has already been litigated in front of FERC, and guess what? The N.O. City Council and the La. Public Service Commission WON. FERC ordered Entergy Arkansas to pay Louisiana $250 million a year UNDER THE CONTRACT, and to pay ENO $6.5 million a year UNDER THE CONTRACT. So yes, I’m all about the CONTRACT. I want Entergy Arkansas to honor that contract, and I want Entergy New Orleans not to roll over and let Entergy subsidiaries in Arkansas and Mississippi walk away from their obligations UNDER THE CONTRACT. You’re absolutely right — if Entergy N.O. doesn’t uphold the contracts it signed (including its ongoing obligation to look out for its customers’ interests in this matter), then what do contracts mean? As for Gambit and contracts, check us out: you’ll find that Gambit has a fine reputation for treating its customers right and honoring contracts. I want Entergy N.O. to do likewise.
Now Lauren:
Every time Entergy runs out of excuses, it starts pointing fingers at the Council’s utility advisers. Funny but we never hear about how much Entergy pays its own lawyers (some of them very politically connected) to schmooze politicians and create legal impediments to more effective utility regulation. Believe me, those Entergy lawyers don’t come cheap. On the other hand, the amount that the council’s utility consultants have earned over the past 25 years pales in comparison to the hundreds of millions they have produced in savings to ratepayers. As for the utility consultants being “Shelley’s lawyers,” the principal attorney for the Council, Clinton Vince, has been the Council’s lead utility consultant since at least 1983 — that’s 25 years, Lauren. That’s, like, 23 years before Shelley Midura even ran for the Council. Respectfully, Lauren, you need to get a clue on this one.
Mike, you are correct that Entergy successfully lobbied for $200 million in CDBG funds — and you no doubt are aware that Gambit supported that position. I guess you forgot to point that out. I’ll make it easy for you. Go to http://www.bestofneworleans.com/dispatch/2006-10-17/commentary.php
(Oct. 17, 2006) to read our Commentary praising the La. Recovery Authority for approving the CDBG use and noting that “none of the money could be used to profit Entergy’s parent company, Entergy Corporation, and none of it could be used to increase the utility’s ‘rate base,’ which is the basis for rates charged to customers (and rate increases). The CDBG funds also could not be subject to existing or future liens held by any of Entergy New Orleans’ bondholders, and the money must be spent on ‘reasonable and necessary’ repairs that are independently audited and certified. If approved, the CDBG money is intended to provide capital assistance to a utility so that its customers will not be stuck with the tab for the utility’s failure to maintain adequate reserves and/or insurance coverage.” Please note that the restrictions put on the CDBG funds were put there by the LRA, not self-imposed by Entergy. Mike, I respectfully submit that there are not two sides to this story; Entergy N.O. is letting its sister companies walk away from a CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATION to ENO’s customers. It’s a clear-cut case of a monopoly utility looking out for its affiliates instead of its customers. Entergy N.O.’s “side” of the story is exactly what I put in my column: ENO President Rod West says let’s work it all out in a new contract — which means there will be another round of litigation at FERC. And this round of litigation will be triggered by Entergy’s actions, not by the Council’s team of lawyers. Finally, Mike, the recent dispute does NOT concern a “legal interpretation of the System Agreement.” That agreement has already been “interpreted” by FERC, which held conclusively that, as applied, it was unfair and discriminatory — and FERC ordered Entergy Arkansas to make annual payments to Entergy Louisiana and Entergy New Orleans in order to make the contract do what it purports to do in the first place (i.e., spread the cost AND the benefits system-wide). Based on what you wrote, you either work for or have some connection to Entergy, so you already know these things.
Overall, I concede that my tone in the column was harsh. I normally reserve such a tone for people like Edwin Edwards, Bill Jefferson, Ray Nagin and their ilk. In this case, I stand not only by what I wrote but also how I wrote it. Entergy New Orleans deserves a public slap for putting its corporate constituency ahead of its customers. As a government-licensed monopoly, Entergy is GUARANTEED a profit. In return, under its CONTRACT with the city/regulators, it must act in the PUBLIC INTEREST. It is not doing so in this matter.
And for the record, I have many wonderful friends at Entergy. I also have friends who have run for political office. My friends in both camps know this about me: I don’t let friendships determine my politics, and I don’t let politics determine my friendships. My sole allegiance in writing my column is to the truth. And every word of my column is true.
Sometimes, as here, the truth hurts. Deal with it.

[...] should read Clancy Dubos on the Blog of New Orleans. Make sure you read and article AND scroll all the way down to where Clancy rebuts some of the [...]

Jill, could you do me a favor and plug your old Houston address into this link?

http://www.electricitytexas.com/index.html?mrc=ps-et-g-e-electricity+price&s_kwcid=electricity%20price|1753573875

My friends in Illinois pay a lot less for utilities, I am just asking for specifics to your claim. Especially since Entergy supporters - none of whom I’ve ever met in real life - are now using the word “bills” instead of the previously argued “rates” when some critics have pointed out the fuel surcharges are doing most of the bill-raising. Something again other states don’t seem to be heavily subjected to.

Clancy, cool that you’re reading this too. I reread the story in that other paper and I called the company’s PR office, and both say the contract gives the participants the right to exit it, with eight years notice. How do you justify an attack on a group or company exercising its right to leave a contract, especially if the right is stated in the contract?

Carmen, in my talk with the company, I asked about your question. They said almost all utilities have fuel surcharges some are not on a line item, but in states like Illinois a bunch of their power plants are fueled by coal and nuclear which is very very cheap compared to natural gas which used to be cheap up until 2000. Now NG is expensive and that’s where Entergy gets our power from. I don’t like it, but it makes sense to me…and my bill is still cheaper here than it was in Houston. (And no, I’m not putting my personal information in your Web site…sorry.)

Clancy - I am at a litle bit of a disadvantage here, given that it is your blog and you control the content of the Gambit. You summarized your position as follows: “I respectfully submit that there are not two sides to this story.” All I can say to that is it’s a good thing you are not the judge. Your claim that the issue was already decided by the FERC is simply not correct, but I won’t hold you accountable for knowing all of the details. Suffice it to say that your paper could serve an important role in educating the public about the facts here and the significant issues that will affect everybody in New Orleans. You have opted instead to put blinders on and use your medium as a platform to drag Entergy and its employees through the mud. It is a shame.

Jill, I don’t blame you for not putting your address on this or any other blog. That was not a reasonable request, and you are right to refuse to take the bait.

As for a company’s right to exit the contract with 8 years notice, Rod West’s letter explicitly states that Arkansas could be out by 2013 — five years or less from now. Entergy Mississippi Inc. has until 2015, which is 7 years from now. Obviously the affiliates gave notice a few years ago of their intent to opt out of the agreement (West references a 96-month notice period).

Even if the contract allows the sister companies to opt out, the spirit of the agreement — and Entergy’s position with state and federal regulators for the past 50 years — has been that its wholly-owned operating subsidiaries function “as a system” (hence, the System Agreement), with shared risks and benefits. Now that Louisiana has assumed the risks of paying for plants elsewhere, why should ENO’s sister companies enjoy the benefits exclusively, even with 96-months notice? None of us can foretell the future, but does anyone doubt that Arkansas and Mississippi would come running back if the price of natural gas were to fall?

Mike, I do not control the content of responses — as long as people are responsible. And all of my critics have been responsible in their remarks. So you’re free to take me to task all you want. Also, I am not dragging Entergy employees through the mud. Entergy has outstanding employees. At the risk of sounding like Joe Biden, let me repeat that: Entergy has outstanding employees!!! I count several of them as good friends, and I would never disparage them. Your criticism of my comments doesn’t mean you are dragging Gambit’s staff through the mud; the same is true of my criticism of Entergy N.O.’s position in this matter. It’s not a shame; it’s the First Amendment at its finest.

thank you clancy, this was an important and gutsy editorial on an issue that is not getting nearly enough attention.

Why are we paying an ENO purchase gas adjustment of .9+ for natural gas when the cash market has been consistently less than half of that??
Is Entergy just pocketing the difference or did they make a bad market judgement at the top of the market and locked in a long term committment at the expense of the consumer. This should be a charge to Entergy and its shareholders, not to the consumer.

My concern is rather intentional or not, the tone and replies strike me as a desire to steer as clear away from rape as possible when the issue of rape and the consequences of are are central. ,