For 35 years, the Alliance for Affordable Energy has been advocating for equitable, affordable, and environmentally responsible energy for the people of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana. While we are often opposed by powerful corporations and entrenched interests, our supporters and community partnerships have magnified our successes.
In 2018, The Alliance and our partners in the Energy Future New Orleans Coalition helped to expose a scandal on the part of Entergy New Orleans in which the company paid actors to attend public meetings in support of an unpopular methane-fired power plant in New Orleans East. Subsequently, we successfully pressured the New Orleans City Council to levy a $5M fine against Entergy.
In 2019 The Alliance worked to protect Louisiana ratepayers from $40M in coal ash clean-up fees for a CLECO coal plant at the end of its life, and secured a promise of 200 MW of Louisiana solar for Swepco customers. Over the course of the last seven years Louisiana customers have saved tens of millions of dollars and millions of kilowatt hours thanks to efficiency programs for which The Alliance has advocated, including the doubling and then quadrupling of the program size.
In May 2021, after years of effort, our coalition ushered the passage of a Renewable and Clean Portfolio Standard through the New Orleans City Council, a policy which will require ENO to meet an escalating percentage of consumer demand through energy efficiency and renewable energy. The passage of the RCPS made New Orleans the first city in the Gulf South to adopt such a policy.
Later in 2021, in the wake of Hurricane Ida, The Alliance moved the Council to commission a management audit of Entergy New Orleans, to examine the corporate culture and governance of the company that has led to years of malfeasance, poor service, and unaffordable bills. Additionally, The Alliance successfully moved the Council to amend the city’s Community Solar Rules to align the rules’ definition of low-income customers with those of state housing subsidies, which will encourage the development of community solar projects in New Orleans.
