The campaign will organize ratepayers in debt to Entergy to demand forgiveness of all post-pandemic utility debt and a permanent shutoff moratorium after the November 1 end of the temporary moratorium.
New Orleans, LA – Dissatisfied Entergy New Orleans ratepayers will organize their neighbors to refuse to make ongoing payments, or pay off any debts to the utility until Entergy and the New Orleans City Council forgive all debts since March 2020, and agree to place a permanent moratorium on power shutoffs.
New Orleans DSA campaign leaders say Entergy’s record profits, along with their reliance on dirty fossil fuels, as well as a litany of tacked-on fees, justify their effort to “Make Entergy Pay” for ratepayers’ ever-increasing debts.
“While New Orleanians have suffered regular sunny day outages, massive failures in storms due to a lack of maintenance, and skyrocketing bills, Entergy executives and shareholders have given themselves raise after raise,” said Jack R., a campaign organizer, “It’s high time Entergy paid the price for its poor management and outright greed.”
In spite of Entergy New Orleans’s poor performance, the COVID pandemic, and several major tropical storms, in 2021 the company reported record profits of nearly $1.4 billion, while outgoing Entergy Corp. CEO Leo Denault is paid a salary of $16 million, before even including lucrative stock bonuses.
The campaign will recruit 10,000 pledges among Entergy New Orleans ratepayers before initiating the strike, during which participants will refuse to make payments on previous utility debts and future charges.
The strike will continue until Entergy agrees to the campaign’s demands, or is forced to acquiesce by the New Orleans City Council.Campaign organizers say they will continue their efforts beyond the debt strike in pursuit of a fully municipalized, public electrical utility for New Orleans, owned by city residents and operated under the auspices of the New Orleans City Council.
About New Orleans DSA
New Orleans DSA is the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, a volunteer organization supported by its dues-paying members with the goal of democratizing all aspects of society, political and economic. The New Orleans chapter has previously participated in the Save Your NOLA Library campaign, the effort to decriminalize sex work through the state legislature, engages in regular community mutual aid projects such as free health fairs and free brake light replacement clinics, and produces regular voter guides to provide unvarnished analysis of local and state elections.