Entergy Still Asking for Handouts and Putting Screws to Ratepayers

The Times-Picayune has followed up on an issue that CorpWatch broke back in May, namely, how the people barely scraping by in New Orleans are being asked to foot the bill for the private utility's recovery from Katrina. Now it seems ratepayers, who are dealing with higher rents and fewer jobs to begin with, will be paying electricity bills 50% higher than before Katrina. Not because Entergy can't afford to fix its own infrastructure, but because doing so would bite into profits.

Rita J. King, author of our report "Big, Easy Money: Disaster Profiteering on the American Gulf Coast," noted four months ago that Entergy's corporate structure deliberately shields it from most risk associated with doing business in Hurricane Alley. Although Entergy New Orleans is a wholly-owned subsidiary, it is fiscally independent of its massive parent. Therefore, the larger Entergy doesn't have to make up its losses in case of, say, a major natural disaster. What Entergy N.O.'s insurance didn't cover it is demanding from the state government in the form of a block grant. The rest will come out of the pockets of it's customers, many of whom will be unable to pay, and therefore unable to stay.

This is a evilly clever arrangement. Entergy has New Orleans over a barrel. Ratepayers will complain to their lawmakers, who will be motivated to favor directing a massive public grant to a private corporation in order to keep rates down and taxpayers and voters happy and, more importantly, in Louisiana at all.

The Times-Picayune notes that the latest proposed hike is being justified as a "fuel adjustment charge." Which is a time-honored and now again fashionable way to raise prices for just about anything without looking greedy.