Crown jewels

City Council is adding staff to its in-house utilities regulatory office (CUNO). The idea is to give the council more directly accountable agency in its oversight of Entergy instead of outsourcing that function entirely to consulting firms. The consultants aren't being replaced. This is more about CUNO having more of a policy voice. Currently it has practically none.

“What’s unprecedented about New Orleans … is that they outsource everything,” utility industry attorney Scott Hempling told The Lens in March. “I’m not aware of any place that has any resemblance to that paucity of internal expertise and the near total dependence on outside expertise. No place.”

Instead of having zero input, the council is now aiming to have some. 


But, while more direct regulatory engagement from the democratically accountable council is a welcome shift in the right direction, that's not all that's going on here. The consulting contracts, at a combined $7 million, are some of the biggest that city councilmembers can award to anybody. And this article suggests that these moves now could mean the next time the contracts come up for bid they won't automatically default to the same two firms who have held them contracts for almost 40 years. The contracts are up for bid in 2021. As it happens, that is also when the councilmembers are up for reelection.

Sooo, well you can see where this is going.

Moreno is not the first council member to push for change. Notable predecessors include Shelley Midura, Stacy Head and Susan Guidry. Those former council members told The Lens earlier this year that the consultants were able to keep their positions in part due to political connections and contributions.

“Certainly, politics come into play,” Head said. “And these advisers have been skilled at making sure they have alliances that will benefit them in keeping relationships with council members and getting their contracts renewed.”

Another former council member, Oliver Thomas, told The Lens that because the utility committee was responsible for assigning the bulk of the council contracts’ value, it was traditionally seen as politically powerful.

“When you talk about a crown jewel committee, that’s probably the most influential council committee,” said Thomas, who was chair of the utility committee from 2006 to 2007. “That’s where you can raise money. And more importantly than being able to raise money, that’s where you place your relationships and where you can help people who are trying to get involved in that particular industry. So that’s a plum jewel.”

Anyway if you're interested in following the next citywide election cycle, you'll want to pay attention to Dentons' and Legend's campaign contributions as well as those of their potential competitors.