NEW ORLEANS — The City of New Orleans is now under a moratorium through Nov. 1 that allows Entergy customers to delay paying their bill, while keeping their lights on.
The resolution prohibits Entergy from shutting off power due to a late bill. The City Council passed the resolution Tuesday afternoon.
"The moratorium is not a win, it's a stop gap measure," Council Vice President JP Morrell said.
Many city councilmembers stressed that people should continue to pay their bills if they can so they don't add up.
"If you can make a payment, make a payment," Councilmember Lesli Harris said.
The Friday before the resolution passed, the agency that provides financial assistance to low income homes in Orleans Parish said it exceeded its energy assistance funding capacity.
Total Community Action disperses federal funding from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to Orleans Parish.
Thelma Harris-French, CEO and president of Total Community Action, said they suspended taking applications.
"We have 1,000 applications and we're at the end of a funding cycle," Harris-French said. "So, our greatest fear is that we've received more applications than we can process."
At Tuesday's City Council meeting, Entergy announced it will commit $10 million in shareholder donations applied to all Entergy utilities for bill payment assistance programs for residential customers.
But there was a lack of clarity on how one would get the help.
"Will this be an application type of process or will this be a scenario where the company selects? If you could walk me through that because I know we will be getting the questions," Council President Helena Moreno said to Entergy.
It was also unclear how much of the $10 million would go to Entergy New Orleans customers versus customers across the rest of the state.
Entergy New Orleans CEO said they don't have answers yet and would get them to the council and customers.
In the meantime, customers needing help from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program in surrounding parishes may be better off.
"Jefferson Parish does have funding as of last week," Harris-French said, "I haven't talked to them this week."
There are around 40 agencies across the state that provide the funding.
Entergy also announced today they will begin waiving late payment fees for eligible residential customers, as well as credit card fees for all residential customers.
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