New Orleans City Council to consider $1 million fine on Entergy for frequent power outages

[TexasTowelie]

After more than two years of investigations, the New Orleans City Council plans to vote on a resolution to fine Entergy New Orleans $1 million for its “inaction and omissions in mitigating” the thousands of power outages the city experiences every year.

The council, which is responsible for regulating Entergy New Orleans, will vote on the proposed fine at its Wednesday utility committee meeting.

The resolution represents the conclusion of a so-called prudence investigation that began last year in response to frequent outages the city experienced between 2013 through 2017. In 2013 and 2014, Entergy cut funding for maintenance and system improvements by millions of dollars.

The number and duration of power outages has increased every year after 2013, when the disinvestment began, according to reliability measures provided by Entergy included in the resolution.

Read more: https://thelensnola.org/2019/10/22/city-council-to-consider-1-million-on-entergy-for-frequent-power-outages/

[Gumboot]

1. This, on top of the on-going PG&E disaster in California...

... shows how these essential utilities should be in public ownership and control.

A $1m fine is just loose change to Entergy. Little more than a slap on the wrist.

Oddly enough, the local utility company here in deep red Colorado Springs IS in public ownership, and it operates reliably all year round, keeping the costs low for consumers. My last monthly bill was just $47.

Republicans get kinda shifty whenever I mention it...

[TexasTowelie]

2. I've seen mixed results regarding public ownership of utilities.

I've had fairly decent luck with municipal owned utilities in a few of the cities I lived with such as Georgetown and Austin. However, some of the rural electrical coops that I'm aware of also have extremely high rates.

BTW, Georgetown went totally green earlier this decade when they purchased wind power. However, they recently had a rate spike because of some of those contracts they signed earlier.