Coalition advocates for sustainable energy rates, practices
30th August 2021 · 0 Comments
By Meghan Holmes
Contributing Writer
Last week, Together New Orleans, a recently formed coalition of community groups, churches and nonprofits, held a citizen seminar educating people about the relationship between Entergy and New Orleans’ City Council, as well as advocating for sustainable changes to the region’s electric and gas service.
In the wake of a request for a rate increase from the company, the Alliance for Affordable Energy, along with leadership from the Together New Orleans coalition, has begun hosting Zoom sessions to educate potential voters and mobilize against increasing rates. Because the New Orleans City Council must approve any rate increase, and can also regulate how Entergy satisfies its customers’ energy demands, this fall’s elections provide an opportunity to advocate to council candidates for policy changes and increased transparency.
“We want to ask the City Council what we can do to make our utility company the best and most forward-thinking in the country. We are looking for a vision,” said Broderick Bagert, an organizer with Together New Orleans.
The first part of the meeting addressed recent findings from the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change, which releases reports compiling research on the subject every five years.
“This report is really a warning bell for us,” said Jesse George, policy director at the Alliance for Affordable Energy. “We are already experiencing detrimental effects of climate change. This report is telling us: this must sound a death knell for coal and fossil fuels before they destroy the planet. Greenhouse gases are at higher levels in the atmosphere than they have ever been in human history, and sea levels have risen by half afoot. The report is clear that wildfires, flooding, droughts, heavy rains and hurricanes have all been intensified by climate change.”
While the impact of climate change will be universal, New Orleans is particularly vulnerable. The city has the worst heat island effect of any major city in the United States. On average, the city is nine degrees hotter than surrounding rural areas, with some neighborhoods up to 16 degrees hotter.
“Dark roofs, streets, lack of green space, population density, and a lack of tall buildings to block sunlight” all contribute to the city’s heat problem, said George, and this heat is particularly felt in low-income, primarily African-American communities.
“Our low-income residents face one of the highest energy burdens in the country,” George said. “The average amount spent on an energy bill nationally is 3.5 percent of income and here it’s 9.8 percent, with some residents facing a burden as high as 28 percent, which is outrageous when compared to the rest of the country.”
One of the reasons low-income renters face a high energy burden in New Orleans is due to the condition of the housing stock. Many people rent and are unable to weatherize their homes or purchase energy-efficient appliances, or doors and windows that reduce energy consumption. As a result, advocates want the City Council and Entergy to prioritize these types of supply-side upgrades as part of public policy.
“We want the energy demand that we have to be met in the cheapest and most efficient way possible, so if that means upgrading appliances and weatherizing homes rather than building a new power plant, we should do that,” George said.
The two sustainable energy options that representatives from the Alliance for Affordable Energy promoted at the meeting were community solar and solar power with a battery storage capability.
“Community solar is a way for renters, or anyone not prepared for rooftop solar, to realize the same benefits on their bill as if they had rooftop solar,” said Logan Burke, executive director at the Alliance for Affordable Energy. “The City Council approved a new rule that allows community-owned resources like solar. What this means is that a handful of people, whether it’s through neighborhood associations, community organizations, churches or even for-profit entities could develop community solar projects and provide access through subscriptions to anyone interested.”
Another sustainable solution is solar plus storage, where rooftop solar or community solar units are outfitted with a battery that allows residents to maintain power during outages, an alternative to gas generators during storms.
“A visionary council could move these ideas forward, as well as make sure the council’s Renewable Portfolio Standard isn’t watered-down and that our future energy burdens are decreased, not increased like they would be with the proposed rate change coming down the pipeline,” Burke said.
In coming weeks, Together New Orleans plans to host a series of meetings between City Council candidates and members of their potential districts, with an opportunity for citizens to advocate to the candidates directly about the future of New Orleans’ energy policy, as well as other important issues.
This article was originally published in the August 30, 2021 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
