NEW ORLEANS (WGNO)— The New Orleans City Council voted unanimously today to review and investigate Entergy’s handling of the power loss due to Hurricane Ida.
Helena Moreno with New Orleans City Council said, “I will say this to the big corporation, please stop acting like you are the victim. You are the Goliath, a powerful Fortune 500 Company.”
The New Orleans City Council is demanding accountability and transparency from Entergy New Orleans in regards to their handling of the loss of power to the New Orleans Power Station and the failure of eight transmission lines during Hurricane Ida.
“Is the company investing enough in transmission and the expansion of transmission?, Moreno asked.
Entergy New Orleans says considering Hurricane Ida’s strength they got the power back on after accessing the damage to the New Orleans Power Station quicker than expected.
“Two days after one of the most powerful storms to ever hit Louisiana. Thanks to power generated by the New Orleans Power Station, simply put this isn’t a question NOPS worked,” Deanna Rodriguez with Entergy said.
Rodriguez went on to say, “Our experts not me determined that it was better, safer, faster to include the New Orleans Power Station and transmission to bring power back to our customers.”
Still many Entergy customers at the meeting were heated that they went days without power.
“We restored power to over 95 percent of our customers in less than 10 days,” Rodriguez said.
Entergy promised to work with the City as to what went wrong and what they can do better next time.
“I acknowledge that we could’ve done some things better,” Rodriguez said.
“I’m not looking to start a fight or throw darts. I just want the company as a whole to be better for the people they serve. I want you to be honest, transparent, I want you to do your job,” Moreno said.
What’s next— City Council will conduct a thorough review and investigation of transmission failures due to Ida. They voted five to zero to hire an independent consultant to do a full audit of Entergy. This process could take between 60 and 90 days.