Today, the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) and partner organizations in the Energy Future New Orleans coalition filed a motion for the City Council to hold Entergy accountable by ordering
1. a full investigation of Entergy's massive power outage that contributed to the deaths of 12 New Orleans residents;
2. an independent management audit of Entergy companies;
3. a thorough examination of the costs Entergy bills New Orleans customers for the new gas plant sited near Black and Vietnamese American residents in New Orleans East that did not work on its own, as Entergy claimed to win Council approval for it.
DSCEJ’s commitment to environmental justice led us to oppose the gas plant based on our research and analysis of the data and facts showing Entergy did none of the following: implement best practices on site selection criteria to protect communities from the gas plant pollution, evaluate alternative energy options ordered by the City Council, and provide a credible reason for the gas plant. We have since worked on the alternative energy options by supporting a local policy for community solar projects, coordinating the Climate Action Equity Project, and advocating for a renewable portfolio standard.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, what worked was rooftop solar with battery storage. What did not work was dirty energy.
Join DSCEJ in calling on the City Council to hold Entergy accountable and build an energy system that works for everyone. Let’s expand solar energy with battery storage at places that serve the public and in neighborhoods that are most vulnerable to climate change, where Entergy bills hit residents the hardest with the one of the highest energy cost burdens in the nation.
