Entergy Explains Why Utility Bills are Sky-Rocketing at Terrebonne Council Meeting

An Entergy representative presented the reason behind heightened utility bills at the Terrebonne Parish Council meeting last night.

Paula Rome, Entergy Customer Service Manager for Terrebonne Parish

Paula Rome, the new Entergy Customer Service Manager for Terrebonne Parish, was present to address the increasing costs of electricity services. Rome presented reasons to better explain the high electricity bills residents have been experiencing. She started by explaining the factors that impact utility bills, “As we know, right now, it is record-breaking temperatures so everybody’s usage is higher than normal,” she began. She explained that the usage is the aspect of the bill that residents and business owners have the ability to control.

The second largest component of the bill is the fuel adjustment fees which Rome said is a component that has risen the most. The fuel adjustment fees are based on natural gas prices which are increasing globally.

The third component of the bills is storm recovery costs, “It’s important to know, “Rome explained, “that those two parts of the energy bill, Entergy does not make any profit off of… Entergy Louisiana is regulated by the Public Service Commission, so those two parts are regulated to us by the Public Service Commission,” she explained.

The largest reason for bills sky-rocketing is the price of natural gas. “It’s the same reason you’re paying more at the gas pump for your cars, it is the same reason we’re paying more at the grocery stores. The cost of gas is what we use to operate our numerous power generation facilities,” she said. As a result, the higher-than-normal costs will be seen on customer bills as increases to the Fuel Adjustment fee throughout the summer months and until there is some relief on the commodity pricing. She suggested that the higher natural gas prices are a factor that customers should account for in budgeting through the summer months.

She presented a chart to visualize the increase in usage that compared July 2020 to July 2022 since it is the highest usage month. The chart showed that the Entergy rates, or what they charge customers, for 1,000-kilowatt hours increased from about $77 to around $82. The bar graph showed the other costs, especially the fuel costs, have risen dramatically. The fuel price for 1,000-kilowatt hours has risen $44, but most importantly, 250 percent since July 2020. The other costs, which include storm recovery, have risen only 19 percent.

What is Entergy doing to help customers and communities through the challenging times? To ease the pain of higher energy bills, and in consultation with their regulators, Rome shared that Entergy is implementing a series of measures to help residential and commercial customers through the high usage summer months. The measures include:

• Committing $10 million in shareholder donations applied to all Entergy utility bill payment assistance programs for residential customers, including the Power to Care fund
• Waiving late payment fees for eligible residential customers
• Waving credit card payment fees for all residential customers
• Organizing employee volunteers to conduct energy efficiency and weatherization events in select neighborhoods 

Rome shared that complaints they have received are that the company is only helping low-income residents. To help with this, Entergy recently announced they are putting $4.4 million into local United Way organizations. A recent press release named United Way of Southeast Louisiana and it is expected that they will announce today they are also supporting our local United Way, “So, people that are at a poverty level times 250 percent, the number I saw for a household of four people, was about $70,000 of their annual income,” Rome explained. The funds will be given to United Way, so residents will have to apply through United Way to receive a certain $150 off of their bill.

Customers can visit entergy.com/billhelp to get information to help with bills such as how to get payment extensions and how to apply for payment plans. “Entergy is continuing to look at ways we can help our customers. We know this is a burden on people, and this is the last burden on top of people already burdened by the price of gas and groceries going up…We understand the burden this is for our customers,” Rome said.