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NEW ORLEANS — Mayor LaToya Cantrell today announced that the City of New Orleans will receive an additional $2.89 million in revenue from Entergy New Orleans franchise fees.
“This money will be one important step in helping to fill our budget gaps. This will go a long way toward giving people the resources they need,” said Mayor Cantrell. “I would like to thank the team at Entergy New Orleans for working proactively with my administration to identify funds that support our city.”
Since taking office, Mayor Cantrell fought relentlessly to ensure that residents get their fair share of all available resources. This has become especially important in response to the pandemic, with new and significant financial challenges facing the City and residents alike. Mayor Cantrell directed her administration to identify any funding shortfalls that might emerge, as well as opportunities for new revenue to fill the widening budget gaps. One major area of revenue for the City is the franchise fees paid by utility companies operating in public rights-of-way.
In fact, franchise fees comprise about $50 million in revenue annually, or 7 percent of all City revenue. Mayor Cantrell created the Office of Utilities to monitor these franchise agreements and ensure that appropriate fees are being paid.
Utility companies such as Entergy New Orleans (ENO) generally pay a franchise fee based on 5 percent of their annual revenue. The Office of Utilities, under the direction of Jonathan Rhodes, has worked closely with our utility partners, including Entergy New Orleans, to assess the franchise fee projections for the remainder of 2020 to determine the amount of franchise fees to be paid to the City. In response, ENO conducted an audit and was able to identify and allocate an additional $2.89 million in franchise fee payments for 2020. This payment will be given to the City in the form of a credit to offset the City’s energy bills, effectively saving the City nearly $3 million during the current budget year.
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