Congratulations, Entergy!

Highest profit in almost 10 years. Nice going, guys. We are all so proud. And hey why stop there? In the true plucky spirit of capitalism, these heroes are pressing ahead in pursuit of every last dollar they can collect from New Orleans rate payers. The City Council may have them stymied momentarily but we'll see how it plays out in court.

Entergy has agreed to lower its prices for providing electricity and gas in the city to the levels the council approved in November while Entergy's lawsuit against those prices plays out in court.

Entergy had asked a Civil District Court judge to keep an older set of prices intact while its court case dragged on, but it struck a deal with the council this month to let the new prices take effect.

Those prices mean most east bank customers will pay about $3 less per month, at least for now.

It is important to remember that, over the course of this extended confrontation with Entergy, the Council has had no help whatsoever from Mayor Cantrell. She has intervened on Entergy's behalf at several points in the process most recently arguing in favor of higher rates in exchange for a one time $75 million kickback to Sewerage and Water Board. It's a scheme that benefits nobody but Entergy in the long run. But it appeals to LaToya because it solves her short run problem of squeezing more money out of the city's poor and working class population instead of actually forcing corporate malefactors like Entergy to put in their true "fair share."

Apparently the mayor is not done trading favors with Entergy to the detriment of the public well being either. This week we learn that she is pushing a deal made possible by the Trump tax cuts that will allow Entergy to install 146 new surveillance cameras along Canal and Poydras Streets. [STANDARD OBLIGATORY ORWELL TRIGGER WARNING]

The pilot program fits into a larger effort by the city government to introduce so-called “smart cities” technologies to New Orleans. “Smart cities” is an umbrella term with varying definitions, but implementing a smart cities program often includes ramping up the use of data-gathering technologies to inform and enhance the delivery of public services.

Similar programs have caused privacy concerns in other cities building up this type of technology, ranging from Wi-Fi kiosks in New York City that track user’s movements to “smart trash cans” in London that were scraping data from the phones of passing pedestrians. In New Orleans, the push for smart cities technology has mostly come from the City Council, but the pilot project now before the council was led by the Cantrell administration.

The money for the pilot project would come from Entergy New Orleans. Specifically, the funds are the result of the 2017 federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which lowered Entergy New Orleans’ federal corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, resulting in an estimated $50 million in savings.

Through an agreement approved by the City Council, the bulk of that money was earmarked for energy efficiency programing and bill credits for customers. But a small portion, $3.2 million, was reserved for the Smart Cities pilot.

“This is money that New Orleans ratepayers have spent already,” said Logan Burke, executive director for the Alliance for Affordable Energy, in an interview with The Lens. “That’s not a gift from shareholders or a gift from Entergy. That’s our money. And so those dollars should be spent doing one of two things: reducing bills or making the system more reliable. … I fail to see how surveillance cameras fall within Entergy’s franchise.”

Who is looking out for you when Entergy is turns its windfall into even greater profits by boosting your rates? Nobody. Not the mayor anyway.  She's more interested in keeping an eye on you. With Entergy's help. And your money.