The Council plays an enormous role in deciding the costs that Entergy New Orleans charges customers, the types of services it provides, and the kind of energy that powers our city. How Councilmembers choose to exercise their utility regulatory authority affects the everyday lives of New Orleans residents.
Check out our briefing statement for the 2021 CNO elections that highlights some of the things that anyone interested in serving as a Councilmember should be aware of. Plus, learn more about the CNO and get up to date on current and past CNO dockets below.
The Council often uses a public process called a “docket” to take action on important energy issues. Just about anyone can get involved in dockets, but there is a process to get on the list. The Council will open a utility docket to enact energy policy on matters like efficiency, community solar, renewable portfolio standards, reliability, and rate structures, among other things. Most recently the Council opened docket UD-24-01 regarding Entergy New Orleans’ application to sell the gas side of its business to a subsidiary of Bernhard Capital.
As a docket progresses, stakeholders will file comments, testimony, and exhibits. While The Council posts some of these filings in meeting agendas, most of the filings submitted in dockets are not are not readily available to the public on The Council’s website. The Alliance has dedicated ourselves to public awareness, access and transparency by collecting and organizing all of the documents filed in dockets so that the public and those interested in energy policy can have access to all of the relevant information.
The City Council of New Orleans (CNO) is composed of seven elected Councilmembers (two elected at-large and five elected from districts). Councilmember elections are held every 4 years and are an opportunity for New Orleanians to get involved and choose who will represent them.
The Alliance encourages you to reach out to your Councilmembers who make decisions about how much your utility bill costs, how reliable your power is, and where that energy comes from, among other things. You can find Councilmembers contact information on the Council website.
The next election year for the Council and Mayor of New Orleans is 2025. As always the Alliance will host forums to allow voters to hear from Council candidates.
Get in Contact with Your Councilmembers
The Council relies on the support of its in-house staff, the Council Utility Regulatory Office, commonly known as CURO, to provide research and recommendations, oversee its consultants, and serve as the initial public interface between the Council and the public. See M-17-217 for more information regarding the role of CURO in the Council’s regulatory process.
In addition to its in-house team, The Council contracts various consulting firms as Advisors to provide legal and technical expertise on electric and gas to the Council. The two lead firms advising the Council on utility matters have contracted with the city for nearly 40 years.
Within the Council, there are two Committees that guide decisions on utility matters. The Committees make recommendations to the full Council, and receive input from the public in meetings in Council chambers. You can learn more about all the various Committees on the Council’s website.
Utility, Cable, Telecommunications, and Technology Committee (UTTC)
This committee is responsible for overseeing all utility matters, like electricity and water, as well as cable and telecommunications. The Alliance often attends UTTC meetings as this is where utility policy is first introduced.
Climate and Sustainability Committee
This committee focuses on ways to make our city more sustainable, including programming, funding, and legislation that improves the sustainability of the City.
