On Thursday, Entergy New Orleans released a statement denying responsibility for paid actors to attend city council meetings and speak in favor of a $210 million gas plant. The electric company claims they hired The Hawthorn Group to gather supporters And The Hawthorn Group without Entergy New Orleans' knowledge then hired a subcontractor, Crowds on Demand, to ensure their contract was fulfilled.
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The Hawthorn Group released a statement saying they were unaware Crowds on Demand would hire people to attend those meetings. The statement reads: Paying participants was not requested or authorized by our client or by Hawthorn.
But, when you head to Crowds on Demand’s website, the first thing you see is “hire demonstrators" and this is what the CEO of Crowds on Demand told CBS News in 2015 about his company:
"We want the world to think that it's a genuine crowd and that's what we do," said Adam Swart.
This new information is raising eyebrows and raising questions and one of those questions is where did the money come from?
Bill Quigley, attorney for gas plant opponents, said "Their usual expenses are built in to the rates that all of us pay. Anybody who looks at their Entergy bill sees that there’s all kinds of fees in there. Where’s the fee for the actors?"
Eyewitness News was first to report that actors were hired to attend and speak in favor of Entergy's proposed power plant in New Orleans East. The new information this week has opponents once again claiming this entire process to approve the gas plant was not fair.
A newly elected member of city council, Kristin Palmer, says Entergy's internal investigation may not be the only one.
"Do you think if you're a member of the public that you would be satisfied with an internal investigation that was done by Entergy? I think the public is going to want a third-party analysis of the information," said Palmer.
A spokesperson with Entergy New Orleans says all costs associated with The Hawthorn Group will be refunded to the utility company and donated to nonprofit organizations.