Lindsay Mader, lindsay.mader@sierraclub.org
NEW ORLEANS - Today, Sierra Club released its sixth Dirty Truth Report. Thanks to pressure from the New Orleans City Council and advocates like the Sierra Club, Entergy New Orleans’ (ENO) plans currently meet the New Orleans clean energy standard (RCPS), setting the utility up to score 100 out of 100, receiving an A for the second year in a row. The Dirty Truth Report grades utilities across the country based on how much coal they are retiring, how much gas they are planning, and how much renewable energy they are adding.
Nationally, the 76 utilities scored 7 out of 100 in aggregate. This is eight points lower than last year’s report and the lowest score in the report’s history. ENO’s parent company, Entergy Corp., received a D grade (31 out of 100). Louisiana’s other utilities, Entergy Louisiana and Cleco, are discussed here.
The data collected for the analysis must have been publicly available by July 1, 2026. As ENO receives this grade, it faces unpopularity among many New Orleanians due to frequent power outages and a lack of clear progress in transitioning to truly renewable and clean energy. The Dirty Truth Report cannot consider day-to-day operations nor nuanced background in a utility’s grade.
STATEMENT FROM SIERRA CLUB
“This grade makes it appear that Entergy New Orleans is doing everything right but the people of this city deeply understand just how wrong the utility’s path has been,” said Darryl Malek-Wiley, a Sierra Club organizer in New Orleans. “ENO’s non-reliance on coal and move toward renewables is a credit to the advocates in our community, who still hold a very negative view of this utility. Despite making progress on paper, ENO has eroded our trust and it has much work to do to restore it. At the end of the day, this analysis has a limited focus and methodology, and we all know the truth about living with ENO every day.”
CONTEXT
While ENO does not rely on coal for electricity generation, and isn’t currently disclosing any plans to build new gas, the majority of its current generation still comes from methane gas. According to the company’s integrated resource plan from 2024, 45% of ENO’s capacity comes from methane gas power plants, which are expensive, subject to cost volatility, and polluting.
Renewable energy remains the cheapest way to generate electricity, while coal and fossil fuels remain expensive and extremely harmful to public health. Despite this, the Dirty Truth Report shows that Cleco and Entergy Louisiana are doubling down on dangerous, expensive fossil fuels. This means higher bills for families, more dangerous pollution, and less reliable energy.
The full report is available on the Dirty Truth website or here.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.