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Entergy customers to pay $5 a month for 15 years for Hurricane Ida repairs

According to state law, Entergy Louisiana is entitled to recover the repair costs from rate-payers.

BATON ROUGE, La. — If you're an Entergy Louisiana customer, you'll start seeing an additional charge on your monthly bill soon. 

On Wednesday, the Louisiana Public Service Commission approved Entergy Louisiana's request to finance $1.5 billion in storm costs related to Hurricane Ida. 

According to Entergy, the average customer will see a $5.50 increase every month for the next 15 years. 

"Entergy Louisiana is continuing to advocate for federal disaster relief, and to any extent the company is reimbursed for a portion of storm costs, it will reduce future bill impacts related to Ida," Entergy said. 

This rate increase is in addition to the roughly $10/month Entergy Louisiana customers are already paying for storms Laura, Delta and Zeta. 

"While the new monthly charge could be included on bills as early as April, it's contingent upon when closing on the financing occurs," Entergy said in a statement. 

The LPSC vote was 3-2. District 3 Commissioner, Davante Lewis, voted no. 

“We can’t continue to make consumers not be able to live simply because we are not making the investments in our utility system to be resilient to handle hurricanes and natural disasters," Lewis said.

Lewis is one of the newest faces on the LPSC. He was sworn in earlier this month. He said he wants to see more long-term solutions.

“I understand the short-term need. Hurricane Ida did cause catastrophic damage to our state, but we need to start looking at those long-term costs," Lewis said. 

According to Entergy, the company is looking into how to strengthen the electric system and make it more resilient. 

"Doing so will help us restore power quickly and safely and avoid costly restoration efforts; however, it is a long-term commitment and one that will take time," Entergy said." 

Meanwhile, the clock is ticking on a deal with Entergy New Orleans. 

The New Orleans City Council will vote to approve a Hurricane Ida related charge that would increase the average customer's bill by $4.40/month for 15 years. 

The deadline for that decision is in August. In the meantime, councilmembers are working to get federal aid to cover the storm costs. 

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