New Orleans Needs Energy Solutions Now

02.13.2025

Resources

New Orleans City Council

Struggling with high energy bills? Worried about power outages?

You’re not alone. New Orleans residents deserve affordable, reliable energy-but the City Council has yet to take action.

The Alliance for Affordable Energy is fighting for:

A debt forgiveness program to help families struggling with high bills
A shut-off moratorium to keep the power on when you need it most
Efficiency improvements to lower energy costs for everyone

We’ve proposed real solutions. Now the Council needs to know you care!

Here’s How You Can Help

✅ Call or email your Councilmembers and ask them to support solutions like a debt forgiveness program, shut-off moratorium, and energy efficiency programs.
✅ Share this message with friends and family—spread the word!
✅ Sign up for updates and actions with The Alliance at tinyurl.com/all4energy

No one should have to choose between keeping the lights on and making ends meet. The Alliance is here to help, but your voice is needed.

Take action today! Contact Your Councilmembers!

Councilmember Contact Information

At-Large – Helena Moreno: helena.moreno@nola.gov, 504-658-1060
At-Large – Jean Paul “JP” Morrell: jp.morrell@nola.gov, 504-658-1070
District A – Joseph I. Giarrusso III: joseph.giarrusso@nola.gov, 504-658-1010
District B – Lesli Harris: lesli.harris@nola.gov, 504-658-1020
District C – Freddie King III: freddie.king@nola.gov, 504-658-1030
District D – Eugene J. Green: eugene.green@nola.gov, 504-658-1040
District E – Oliver Thomas: oliver.thomas@nola.gov, 504-658-1050

Use Our Template

We want to encourage you to give your perspective and to make your particular priorities heard. Use as much as you want from our template below to provide input.

Dear Councilmembers,

My name is [first & last] and I am a utility customer in New Orleans. I am your constituent at the New Orleans City Council and I am writing to you today because my energy bill is through the roof. Over the past month, my bill has increased from [x] dollars to [y] dollars and that is unacceptable. Please use your authority to address the needs of the people of New Orleans and to alleviate the risks and burdens born by utility customers.

I encourage the Council to:

List your priorities here

Thank you for taking the time to listen to the public. Power to the people!

Sincerely,

[First & Last Name]
[Address of Utility Service]
[Phone Number]

How Our Suggested Debt Forgiveness Program Would Work

We are not asking the New Orleans City Council to simply pay overdue bills outright. That would be like handing out money for one-time repairs but never fixing the leak (which by the way, the Council has already done twice last year). We are asking for a funded, workable solution to stabilize households.

Let’s say your energy bills have been unusually high, or maybe you’ve faced some unexpected challenges and haven’t been able to keep up with payments. With the program we suggested, you’d enter a 12-18 month payment plan.

For example, you’d pay $50 towards your overdue bill each month.
As you make these payments, the program matches that amount—so each $50 payment also erases another $50 of your debt.
By the end of the plan, you’ve cleared the entire balance, but thanks to the matching forgiveness, you’ve only paid off half of it yourself.

Debt forgiveness programs that match customer payments with additional bill forgiveness over time can be paired with efficiency improvements to lower bills overall, achieving what a single bill payoff cannot: Getting people out of debt and keeping them out of debt.

An unpaid bill management program would benefit all residents, because when people can’t pay, everyone else ends up covering the cost. Eventually, increasing access to community owned solar could also be a powerful tool to ease residents’ utility costs.

Learn more about what we’ve been advocating for in our two previous blogs:

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