NEW ORLEANS — Mayor LaToya Cantrell is pushing back on legislation aimed at the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans.
Right now, there are five bills working their way through the legislature, but three bills in particular were hot topics at Wednesday's SWBNO board meeting.
HB525 would prohibit estimated billing. The bill's author, Matthew Willard (D - New Orleans) said the bill is aimed at increasing bill transparency and rebuilding trust between the community and the utility.
SWBNO Executive Director, Ghassan Korban, said they won't need to estimate bills once customers have a smart meter, but right now, there are staffing challenges that would make complying with the law challenging.
“We explained that to the authors and they understand that," Korban said. Then, the mayor began to laugh.
Another bill, HB965, authored by Representative Stephanie Hilferty (R - Metairie) would eliminate billing surprises for customers as the utility transitions to smart meters by allowing customers to opt-in to a fixed monthly rate.
“I know there are representatives that may have good will and good intentions," SWBNO Board Member, Alejandra Guzman, said, “But it’s imperative that they touch base with our group to be able to understand that what they’re proposing is actually going to be helpful.”
“They don’t want to understand," Mayor Cantrell said as she shook her head.
Korban said the bill is well-intentioned, but it would create more work for the utility.
“We want to remove all of the angst associated with bills in any way we can," Korban said.
SB305, authored by Senator Jimmy Harris (D - New Orleans), sparked the most concern. It would consolidate New Orleans' drainage system.
The board said it's a multimillion-dollar project that the city and utility don't have funding for.
“This is setup to fail," Cantrell said, “We’re pushing back where we need to push back, but the reality is this is what comes out of those who don’t understand the operations, but making laws that we have to align with that don’t serve the utility.”
When a board member asked Cantrell if the City was communicating that with lawmakers, she said they have "consistently."
Meanwhile, Korban said he's optimistic the conversation with lawmakers will lead to adequate funding that will enable SWBNO to comply with the laws.
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