METAIRIE, La. (AP) — About 1,000,000 customers of an electrical utility in Louisiana will cover greater than $1.4 billion in repair costs related to Hurricane Ida.
Entergy Louisiana said residential customers will see about $5.50 added to their monthly bill for the following 15 years to cover the remaining costs of damaged equipment and the hundreds of employees who rushed to revive power after the August 2021 storm, Louisiana news outlets reported.
The fee would only apply to Entergy Louisiana customers.
The commission on Wednesday voted 3-2 to approve the financing after negotiating a figure that was $180 million lower than the utility first sought.
District 5 Commissioner Foster Campbell and newly elected District 3 Commissioner Davante Lewis voted no.
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“I’ve been on the job just 19 days and just the quantity of complaints that my office has received from consumers who’re facing disconnection and unreliable service is just catastrophic,” Lewis said.
He defeated former commissioner Lambert Boissiere last 12 months while running on a platform to carry utility firms more accountable. Now, Lewis said, he wants an independent audit of the storm recovery process.
Doing so, he said, would allow the Public Service Commission to know higher how utility firms assess storm damage and determine what repairs they pay for and what the shoppers pay for.
“I don’t think it’s a sustainable solution to say each time a hurricane comes, and equipment is broken, consumers must pay for it because that’s the model that we’ve established. I don’t imagine in that model,” Lewis said.
Entergy Louisiana issued a press release that it’s in search of more federal disaster relief “and to any extent the corporate is reimbursed for a portion of storm costs, it’s going to reduce future bill impacts related to Ida.”
The corporate also said it’s in search of federal aid to strengthen the electrical distribution system against future storms. “Doing so will help us restore power quickly and safely and avoid costly restoration efforts; nevertheless, it’s a long-term commitment and one that can take time,” the utility said.
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