New Orleans City Council Fines Entergy New Orleans $5 million for Paid Actors Claims

NEW ORLEANS, La. - Today, the New Orleans City Council announced plans to fine Entergy Corporation $5 million during a special council meeting where council formally received yesterday’s investigative report and heard testimony from investigators on claims that revealed that actors were paid to fill meetings and speak out in favor of Entergy New Orleans’ $210 million fracked gas power plant.

“A $5 million fine is not a remedy for what went wrong with the public process. It’s a slap on the wrist and Entergy still gets to build its gas plant, pollute all of New Orleans East, and get paid tens of millions in return for their investment,” said Susan Miller, Attorney for EarthJustice. “This report makes it clear that Entergy violated the law, and the law now requires the Council to hold a new hearing and re-vote on the decision to approve Entergy’s gas plant.”

In addition to the release of this investigative report, a ruling on the Open Meetings Law lawsuit has not been decided, which was brought by residents and local groups to hold the New Orleans City Council accountable for violations of the law. Local community groups alleged that the City Council Utilities Committee’s February 21 meeting and the City Council’s March 8 meeting did not meet the requirements of the Louisiana Constitution or the state’s public meetings law. It’s for these reasons the groups claim that the City Council’s decision to approve Entergy’s plant should be voided.

“We have been saying for months that Entergy packed public hearings with paid actors and made it impossible for the Council to hear from the community.” said Cherelle Blazer, Campaign Representative for Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign. “This was not just some technical violation of the law. Entergy intended to use these actors to prevent community members from voicing their concerns and to influence the outcome. Why else would they hatch this scheme and then repeatedly lie about their involvement? It’s because their plan worked.”   

The communities impacted by the proposed fracked gas plant will likely face billions of pounds of toxic air pollution, increased flood risk, and higher electric bills. The fracked gas plant will also be constructed on a FEMA floodplain within 2 miles of homes, churches, schools and wetlands.

“New Orleans East wants a future that invests in energy that is affordable, efficient, and renewable. They don’t want the city to be locked into 30 years of debt for an expensive, polluting gas plant,” said Happy Johnson, Public Advocate. “Entergy will not be held accountable for their willful and calculated lies to the community until the gas plant’s council permit is revoked.”