EFNO is working to ensure that New Orleans families benefit from clean sources of energy. No one wants to live next to a dirty power plant. 

In 2018 EFNO joined forces with 30 local organizations to ask the New Orleans City Council to open an RPS rulemaking. A renewable portfolio standard (RPS) is a regulatory requirement that utilities meet a specified percentage (or watt hours) of their power supply using qualified renewable resources. A RPS is the way to bolster local investment in clean energy production and give Louisiana citizens cleaner energy choices. 

​In 2019 the docket was opened and the work began. On May 20, 2021 the full New Orleans City Council unanimously voted to adopt R-21-182, establishing a Renewable and Clean Portfolio Standard (RCPS) for the city of New Orleans. ​
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New Orleans joins the now 35 states and three US territories that have established renewable & clean energy mandates. The RCPS is a legal mandate that requires that, by 2040, all of the electricity Entergy supplies to New Orleans comes from energy sources that do not contribute to the climate crisis, with up to 10% offsets allowed. By 2050 Entergy must entirely eliminate the use of fossil fuels. 

Louisiana needs to transition to clean renewable energy in order to protect our future from a severely changed climate, to be competitive to businesses that require renewables, and to stabilize our energy prices. This policy does just that by prioritizing local solar and efficiency first. ​​
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A RCPS has helped create:

Hundreds of clean energy energy jobs & millions of dollars in energy savings for New Orleans residents. ​

You Can Get Involved:

Follow the Entergy's compliance filings on
​the Alliance for Affordable Energy's resources page. 
Concerned about increases in
your energy bill? Tell us ​what’s happening.

What exactly is a RPS? It is...

  • A requirement that utility companies increase the percentage of energy generated by renewable sources, like solar, wind, geothermal.
  • A way of reducing the use of fossil fuels that contribute to climate change and worsen air quality.
  • ​​An opportunity for homeowners, renters, and business owners to participate in generating and using renewable energy with benefits that include lower utility bills.​
It is also a policy that Washington D.C., 29 states, and 3 US territories have approved. Take a look at the map to the left. While New Orleans has instituted a RPS, our larger region hasn't taken the same steps to move toward clean and affordable energy yet -  though the Louisiana Public Service Commission has the authority to make it happen. 

In fact, the very first action item in the state’s Climate Initiatives Task Force’s Climate Action Plan is a Renewable Portfolio Standard. ​Ten years ago the Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) considered an RPS, but declined to implement one, claiming the cost was too high. 
Since then, the cost of solar has plummeted 90% and wind costs have dropped 75%. Now is the time for the Commission to consider and implement new solutions, including a Renewable Portfolio Standard.   ​
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The Journey

Since hurricane Katrina in 2005, New Orleanians have advocated for a more equitable city.  Thousands of families have invested in energy efficiency and solar to reduce our energy bills and take action on climate, but we still suffer with the second worst energy burdens in the country.  

What was Entergy's plan? Well in 2016 they proposed, and ultimately got approval for, an expensive new gas plant that would continue to pollute our city with over 700 million lbs of greenhouse gases every single year. We deserve better than the plan Entergy put forward. For years, the Energy Future New Orleans Coalition fought along side community members against this gas plant. While Entergy may have gotten their gas plant, the fight continued, and in July of 2019 the coalition moved forward with a sweeping proposal to make New Orleans a 100% renewable city by 2040.

The Resilient and Renewable Portfolio Standard (R-RPS), developed by EFNO in collaboration with community members, establishes a comprehensive path for the City of New Orleans to reach 100% renewable energy by the year 2040, and to reach that target by addressing the greatest challenges faced by residents. Among these challenges are some of the highest energy costs in the country for low and moderate income households, and the ever present demands of the city to be resilient during frequent extreme weather events and power outages. Energy poverty is already a problem in New Orleans, with some customers paying as much as 23% of their income on Entergy bills. Climate change is expected to exacerbate these costs as extreme weather events push temperatures higher.   
"We propose bold action on the climate crisis that achieves environmental and economic justice," said Monique Harden at the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice. "Our proposal takes progressive steps toward avoiding energy generated by gas and other dirty fossil fuels that harm African American communities and warm our planet. Our proposal also centers equity in reducing electric bills and creating innovative opportunities for workforce development and small business here in New Orleans."

​EFNO's innovative R-RPS proposal and the resulting RCPS represents not only a first for New Orleans, but also for the Gulf South, and was developed through community input to ensure equity, reduced cost of electric bills, and lasting environmental benefits. 

Hurricane Ida most recently served as a reminder that resilience is intertwined with the fate of New Orleans, and that renewable energy as well as equity are the keys to its long term survival. As Halle Parker with Nola.com reports, "Ida crippled a major Entergy electricity tower and transmission lines" and "sentenced much of southeast Louisiana to a week or more of heat and darkness." Yet, of the about "9,000 solar systems that were in the path of the storm. Very few of them [were] damaged" (Nola.com). Residents with solar panels were able to keep their lights on and help their neighbors stay cool and safe.  
“With this plan, we are talking about creating a lot of good, local jobs, about maintaining access to life-saving power to critical community infrastructure and medically vulnerable individuals, and about empowering an entire city to take control of its destiny,” said Thad Culley, Southeast Regional Director for Vote Solar. “It’s heartening to see the tenacity and determination of local advocates who are doing this for the community they live and work in every day. I have no doubt that they will be a shining example for the entire nation of the power of clean energy to improve lives and make communities stronger.”
The City Council’s RCPS moves us in the right direction, but we didn’t get everything we asked for. This RCPS does include nuclear energy from Entergy’s poorly run and expensive Grand Gulf plant. Nuclear energy is not renewable and creates hazardous radioactive waste. We were successful in removing some false solutions like carbon capture and other offsets from the policy and we will continue to advocate for more local, resilient, and affordable energy in the Integrated Resource Plan and other venues. Thanks to you, the adoption of the RCPS is a win for New Orleans and Louisiana!
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Built with Community Input

​In June of 2020 EFFNO hosted a Community Symposium for learning and listening, opening the collaboration to anyone in the New Orleans community, including the participants in the Greater New Orleans Foundation's Climate Action Equity Project.  

We took the input and priorities of community members from that Symposium and crafted an innovative Energy Future vision to submit to the City Council. You can read the Resilient Renewable Portfolio Standard here. Also check out more materials from the Symposium below. ​

RCPS in the News

Read the Lens' and The Advocate's reporting on the Council's action:

The Energy Future New Orleans Coalition is:
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