Electric bills are rising while pathways for aid are threatened at state, federal level
NEW ORLEANS – The recent end to a state-led energy efficiency program combined with massive layoffs last month at the federal agency that provides electric bill assistance to low-income households have residents of greater New Orleans worried about how they are going to cool their homes during the hottest months of the year.
The Louisiana Public Service Commission, which regulates electric utilities for most of the state, eliminated an energy efficiency program that it had been working on for over a decade in mid-April. In early April, the Trump administration fired all of the Low Income Energy Assistance Program's staff, leaving the future of the program in jeopardy.
Without state-level plans to increase energy assistance, spending on electricity will probably rise, experts said. And with LIHEAP in the lurch, people might not be able to access assistance they need to pay those high bills.
Logan Burke, the executive director of the Alliance for Affordable Energy called the LIHEAP cuts 'outrageous,' especially because there are already few avenues for energy bill assistance. Burke said that Louisiana spent 7% of its LIHEAP funds on weatherizing homes last year, and that if LIHEAP doesn't continue, then there will be no low-income weatherization or efficiency programs in the state.
'The problem here is that those are the minimal backstops that people have depended on for decades — the LIHEAP dollars — both for bill assistance and weatherization of housing, and without them, we simply lose billions of dollars of bill assistance and efficiency upgrades in low income housing,' Burke said.
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Local LIHEAP administrators are silent on how the layoffs will affect residents or the future funding. The Louisiana Housing Corporation — which is in charge of distributing funds to parish organizations that then go through applications and work with residents to provide aid — did not respond to phone calls. Neither did JeffCAP, Jefferson Parish's LIHEAP distributor, or Total Community Action in New Orleans.
Even though the average unit cost of electricity is lower in Louisiana than much of the rest of the country, Louisianians use the highest amounts, leading to high bills, said Logan Burke, executive director of the Alliance for Affordable Energy, and average rates have only been increasing in recent years. Between 2018 and 2024, the base rate for energy bills in Louisiana increased 40%, and is expected to increase 30% in the next 15 years, according to analysis from the financial consulting firm BAI Group. Extreme weather, old housing infrastructure and Louisiana's reliance on natural gas, a volatile market, are all partly responsible for the high prices, experts said.
'A lot of our housing stock is old and simply isn't good at retaining heated and cooled air,' Burke said. 'So a lot of our energy is just wasted around leaks and cracks around our windows and doors.'
For the past 14 years, the Louisiana Public Service Commission had been working on an energy efficiency program that would have helped residents identify ways to consume less energy by making every unit of power go further — through renovations such as increased insulation in homes or upgraded thermostats, Burke said. But the commission abruptly voted to dissolve the program less than a month before contractors were slated to report to the commission about how the program would work. Republican commissioners said the administrative costs of the program would be too high.
The decision frustrated residents of the greater New Orleans area who struggle to pay their energy bills and were looking for state support to lower costs.
'Because if you go around sealing up all these cracks and holes in these old houses, don't you think now they're going to use less to heat and cool their homes?' said Dorginia Lucas, a Metairie resident. 'That's why I would drop it too if I was them. 'Why would I help you lower your bill?' That's how I look at it.'
Lucas said she has been working since 14 years old, but still struggles to pay her utility bills, which range between $249 to $440. She said dealing with Entergy's billing system is frustrating and overwhelming.
A recent report by the Louisiana Association of United Ways, a coalition of nonprofits that connect residents with health and financial aid resources, found that wages haven't been increasing at the same rate as basic necessities in recent years, making household costs difficult to cover, even in families with steady incomes. And utility assistance has been one of the most sought-after aid requests over the past decade in Orleans Parish (with an exception in 2021 after Hurricane Ida), according to caller data from counseling service center Vialink.
Entergy distributes funds to nonprofits for its utility assistance program, 'The Power to Care,' that aids seniors and people with disabilities. The New Orleans Council on Aging distributes those funds to residents in Orleans Parish.
Howard Rodgers, the executive director of the New Orleans Council on Aging, said there is a 'tremendous need' for assistance paying utility bills in the city. Rodgers said seniors particularly need assistance because they might rely on benefits and need to pay for medication, which might lead them to deprioritize utility payments to the detriment of their health.
The New Orleans Council on Aging helps around 10,000 to 15,000 people every year through 'The Power to Care' program, Rodgers said, and most funds come from charitable donations that Entergy matches. But the program has also changed in recent years. Due to high demand, the Council on Aging no longer accepts walk-ins for utility bill assistance. Additionally, those seeking help have a $500 cap on assistance every year. Rodgers said this allows the council to provide assistance to more people.
That might not go too far for many residents. A 2023 Verite News analysis found that the average Entergy bill in New Orleans was $179 in 2022.
And consumer advocates worry that the situation could get worse. Last year, the New Orleans City Council voted to approve the sale of Entergy New Orleans's gas business utility to a company backed by private equity. Energy advocates and community members spoke out against the sale, saying that it might increase rates for energy users. Louisiana's investments in exporting liquified natural gas abroad could also lead to higher energy costs at home, according to a Department of Energy report from last September.
Jannie Yarbrough, a retired New Orleans resident, said she lives alone and pays around $185 to $200 per month, a squeeze on fixed retirement income. Yarbrough said the city and state could be doing more to lower energy costs.
Yarbough said she could ask her daughter to help out, but doesn't want to depend on her.
'I'm blessed that I have a daughter that could pay, but I'm not trying to depend on my child,' Yarbrough said.
Despite the rising costs of gas, public assistance pathways for utility payments are also dwindling at the local level. Last July, the city's Office of Community Development shuttered its emergency rental and utility assistance program after four years. The office didn't respond to requests for comment.
Entergy has its own energy efficiency program, but it still gets paid for funds it may lose from lower energy energy consumption — a program called 'Quick Start,' according to the Alliance for Affordable Energy. Quick Start will expire at the end of the year, and on May 19 the Louisiana Public Service Commission voted to initiate a three month process to look at and make changes to the program and another that helps public entities with energy efficiency.
Under an independent, state-run energy efficiency program, Entergy wouldn't be able to earn back potential profits it lost from energy efficiency upgrades.
Rodgers said the Council on Aging is anticipating a higher demand for utility assistance since the LIHEAP layoffs. He said he has already spoken to Entergy employees about the possibility of the end of LIHEAP. An Entergy New Orleans spokesperson did not respond to questions about if and how assistance pathways might change if LIHEAP ended, but said the company's rates are consistently below the national average and that customers can contact the utility for bill management resources.
'We won't know what to do until it happens,' Rodgers said. 'We can think about it, plan for it, but then we are just going to have to be reactionary when that happens.'
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This article first appeared on Verite News New Orleans and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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Politico
07-08-2025
- Politico
Trump's cuts spur a scramble for expiring energy credits
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Ross' electricity bills have doubled in the 15 years since they moved in, but she says they'd be much higher without that early work. 'I know we wouldn't be eating as well as we do,' she said. President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, however, phases out tax credits to cover similar upgrades. Credits of up to $1,200 on weatherization and insulation, for example, will expire at the end of this year, as will credits of up to $150 for a home energy audit. Incentives for solar panels, home battery system and electric panels will also run out early. Bill backers say the cuts were necessary to avoid tax increases that would have further hurt households. The White House says it's working to lower energy costs elsewhere. Democrats jump inBlue states are making hay, however. Climate Mayors and the U.S. Climate Alliance today launched a nationwide campaign to encourage Americans to take advantage of the credits before they expire, POLITICO's Zack Colman reported. 'We have a narrow window to get the word out and help our communities benefit from these proven, popular credits which are making clean energy more affordable and accessible across the country,' Climate Mayors chair and Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said in a statement. Some states and utilities will continue to offer their own assistance to homeowners. After all, energy efficiency is a way to ease the looming power supply crunch. But advocates for low-income families say they're worried, especially when electricity prices are already rising faster than inflation. Also of note: The federal LIHEAP utility assistance program has its own fund to weatherize homes. Trump's proposed budget would zero out LIHEAP, further scrambling the prospects for groups like the one that helped Ross. Kelly McGown, who heads an Arizona nonprofit that distributes LIHEAP funds, said it's not the time to cut federal protections. 'We're putting families in a position where they're choosing between paying for electricity, food or housing with no backstop,' she said. It's Thursday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Jason Plautz. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to jplautz@ Today in POLITICO Energy's podcast: Alex Guillén breaks down why the Trump administration is moving to cancel the $7 billion Solar for All program. Power Centers International Energy Agency under fireTrump officials are looking to replace the second-in-command at the International Energy Agency, in the latest sign of the administration's frustration with the Paris-based body, Brian Dabbs and Sara Schonhardt write. Mary Warlick, a retired State Department official, is the administration's top target, according to multiple energy industry insiders and former U.S. officials. 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Yahoo
02-08-2025
- Yahoo
Former Gov. George Nigh, Oklahoma's elder political statesman, dies at 98
Former Oklahoma Gov. George P. Nigh, a legendary politician who served in the state's highest office four times and guided it through the early stages of the 1980s oil bust before becoming president of one of the state's largest universities, has died. He was 98. Oklahoma historian Bob Burke, a family friend who once wrote Nigh's biography, confirmed Nigh's death on Wednesday, July 30. Burke said Nigh died at home, surrounded by family members. Every living former Oklahoma governor – two Democrats and two Republicans – issued statements upon Nigh's death, showing the bipartisan love for a man who'd been Oklahoma's unofficial elder statesman for nearly 40 years. 'George Nigh captured his age,' former Gov. Frank Keating, a Republican, said. 'He loved Oklahoma. Totally. He loved his family. Totally. The 'state of his State was great.' He believed. He was a man of love, humility and goodness. We loved him for who he was and what he was. We shall miss him terribly.' Added former Gov. Brad Henry, a Democrat: 'If I compiled a list of the top five people who had the greatest impact and influence on my life, George Nigh, along with my parents, would be on it. George was a longtime dear friend, a mentor and a true public servant. He was a great man, but, perhaps more importantly, he was a really good guy. Few, if any, have had as significant of an impact on our state for as long as George did.' The family will announce a public memorial service later, Burke said. George Nigh's early years focused on politics, service Nigh was born in McAlester to Wilber and Irene Nigh on June 9, 1927, the fourth of five children. As a child, George Nigh worked in his parents' neighborhood grocery store. According to Burke, when Nigh's teacher asked students in an eighth-grade vocations class what they wanted to be in life, 14-year-old George answered, 'I wanna be governor!' After graduating from McAlester High School in 1945, Nigh served in the U.S. Navy in 1945 and 1946 as a 'plane handler' on the USS Ranger, a pilot-training ship, before attending college. He graduated from what's now Eastern Oklahoma State College in Wilburton in 1948, then from what's now East Central University in Ada in 1950. While a student at East Central, Nigh began a campaign in 1950 for a seat in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. He did not own a car, so he hitchhiked from Ada to McAlester every weekend to campaign, Burke said. Nigh won the election, beginning a 32-year career in public office by first serving four terms as a Democrat in the state House. Among his top legislative accomplishments was introducing a bill that designated the song 'Oklahoma,' from the famed musical of the same name, as Oklahoma's state song. While serving in the Legislature, Nigh taught social studies at McAlester High School from 1952 to 1958. In 1958, the 31-year-old Nigh became the youngest lieutenant governor in Oklahoma history and he was elected to that office again in 1966, serving through January 5, 1979. He also served four different times as governor, earning election in 1978 and 1982 to that office — making him the first Oklahoma governor to be reelected. He served out the brief unexpired terms for then-Gov. J. Howard Edmondson (for nine days in January 1963) and then-Gov. David Boren (for five days in January 1979). Both Edmondson and Boren resigned early to go to the U.S. Senate. When Nigh took the oath of office for his first full, four-year term later in January 1979, it actually was the third time he'd been governor. After pushing through record tax cuts in his first full term, Nigh earned reelection in 1982 and became the first gubernatorial candidate to win in all 77 counties in Oklahoma. At his reelection celebration, he told supporters, "The best thing I can do is be the type of governor you expect me to be." Nigh shepherded Oklahoma through the oil bust that followed the collapse of Penn Square Bank in July 1982. With sales tax and gross production revenues plunging that fall, Nigh ordered a 13% cut in state agency budgets. The financial situation was so dire, Nigh said in 2016, 'We were pulling highway patrol cars over to the side of the road to save gas. … I kept thinking, 'It will come back. It will come back.'' It eventually did, but not until years after Night left office. In Nigh's last year as governor, the state budget was cut by more than $300 million, a huge amount at the time. 'If I could have switched my two terms, I would have,' Nigh said. 'But the challenges that came had to be addressed.' Notable moments in Nigh's later career As governor, his notable appointments included the first women named to serve as Oklahoma Supreme Court justices, Alma Wilson and Yvonne Kauger. Kauger, appointed in 1984, served as a justice until 2024. A consummate politician, Nigh referenced both his youth, and later his age, while running for office in different decades, something former Oklahoma Supreme Court Chief Justice Steven Taylor – who's also from McAlester – wryly noted. 'One thing to keep in mind, back in 1950 when he ran for state representative, his campaign slogan was 'Give a young man a chance.' He used that all through the state representative time and actually when he ran for lieutenant governor,' Taylor said in 2013. 'Then in 1978, when he ran for governor, he changed that slogan to 'Experience counts.'' In 1987, he founded the Nigh Institute of State Government at what's now known as the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond. He also served as a 'distinguished statesman-in-residence' at UCO until 1992, when he was named as the university's 18th president. He held that position until 1997, when he retired. Former Gov. Mary Fallin, a Republican, remembered Nigh as setting the standard for public leadership in Oklahoma. 'He devoted his life not just to governing, but to elevating our state's spirit – whether through promoting Oklahoma tourism, supporting education or simply being a good neighbor," Fallin said. "He was the kind of statesman every generation hopes for.' According to the National Governors Association, during his career, Nigh chaired the National Conference of Lieutenant Governors, co-chaired the Interstate Oil Compact Commission, served on the Executive Committee of the Southern States Energy Board, chaired the southern Growth Policies Board, and presided over the Council of State Governments. Nigh was also a popular graduation speaker at schools throughout Oklahoma. When he gave the commencement speech in 2024 at East Central, it extended his streak of giving at least one such speech to 75 years. In some years, he delivered as many as 20 graduation addresses. He delivered recorded remarks for Epic Charter School's online ceremony during the COVID-19 pandemic graduation of 2020. His first such speech came in 1950 at a rural two-room, eighth-grade schoolhouse known as Plainview, located north of Arpelar in Pittsburg County. Nigh, then a senior at East Central, was running for the state Legislature but didn't have a car, so he hitchhiked to the ceremony. While the speeches differed from year to year, Nigh said in 2015 they maintained a consistent theme. He wanted graduates to know, 'You can do it from here. … Wherever you are in Oklahoma, you can become successful.' Nigh married the former Donna Mashburn, who was an airline ticket agent, on Oct. 19, 1963. She had a 10-year-old son, Berry Mashburn, and together, George and Donna had a daughter, Georgeann. Both George (in 1989) and Donna Nigh (in 2008) earned induction into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, considered the highest honor that can be given to an Oklahoman. Burke said George assisted Donna in establishing and maintaining the Donna Nigh Foundation, which provides services to Oklahoma's developmentally disabled. In addition to the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, George Nigh was a member of the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Conservation Hall of Fame, McAlester High School Hall of Fame, Eastern Oklahoma State College Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma CareerTech Hall of Fame and was an East Central University Distinguished Alumnus and the recipient of the Jim Thorpe Lifetime Achievement Award, among other honors. Former Gov. David Walters, a Democrat, recalled Nigh's final public speech, delivered to a packed house of 950 people in Tulsa on June 28, two days after Nigh was checked out of an Oklahoma City hospital after being treated for pneumonia. During the event – in which he was presented with the first Albert Nigh Award for lifetime public service – Walters said Nigh, after he was seated, led the crowd in a raucous singing of 'Oklahoma.' 'I can say without exaggeration that a great man has left this life … a great, great man,' Walters said. 'He believed in public service and devoted his life to it as a legislator, lieutenant governor, and served as governor longer than any other. But the elected positions paled to who he was, a devout Oklahoman, always encouraging others to work together for the common good.' In 2000, Burke published his biography of Nigh, 'Good Guys Wear White Hats: The Life of George Nigh.' The title was a nod to Nigh's political trademark. "What I want the history books to say... is that the state prospered, the people prospered and the state grew,' Nigh said in 1982 after winning re-election. 'I hope history records this was a good period for Oklahoma. I pledge that I will always wear the white hat." Nigh is survived by his wife of 61 years, Donna; daughter Georgeann Duty and husband Steve; his younger sister, Mary Cargill; and grandchildren Macy, Ayla, Chase, Berry and Gray. 'I'm saddened to hear of the loss of a true Oklahoma statesman and public servant," said current Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican. "George Nigh guided Oklahoma through difficult times and led with kindness and humility. Sarah and I are praying for his wife Donna and their family and friends as they remember and honor a life well lived.' This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: George Nigh, former Oklahoma governor, longtime politician, dies at 98 Solve the daily Crossword
Chicago Tribune
01-08-2025
- Chicago Tribune
David Greising: Chicago aldermanic privilege raises its stubborn head again. This time against granny flats
When Lori Lightfoot was sworn in as mayor, her first executive order aimed to wipe out the impact of aldermanic privilege on the way city government functions. But privilege won out, as it so often does, and the City Council practice of allowing local aldermen to veto city actions in their wards — zoning and permitting changes in particular — remains almost wholly intact. Privilege raised its stubborn head again last month. A move to allow more accessory dwelling units in Chicago, in part to increase affordable housing citywide, seemed headed to passage at the July council meeting. But no — a deference to aldermanic privilege and a neatly executed parliamentary maneuver delayed a vote. Thanks to pushback from self-identified 'Bungalow Belt' aldermen, a yearslong push to allow 'granny flats,' coach houses and basement apartments throughout the city will need to wait until September. The proposal introduced by Ald. Bennett Lawson, 44th, was backed by Mayor Brandon Johnson, but the power of the mayor's office isn't what it once was when this particular mayor squares off against an increasingly independent-minded City Council. The effort to address the city's severe housing shortage — at least 150,000 units are needed, probably more — will have to wait. Homeowners who might have earned extra income will have to wait. Apartment dwellers seeking freshly constructed shelter, possibly in neighborhoods they might normally not be able to afford, will have to wait. Many aldermen claim the power of their privilege is their best bet for protecting their wards from unwelcome changes in city policy. They know what's best for their wards, they say. Besides, voters hold them responsible for everything that happens there. They need the veto power. The arguments may seem sensible at first blush. But the truths about aldermanic privilege, sometimes called aldermanic prerogative, should be enough to make an honest alderman blush. Aldermanic privilege is well known as a contributor to Chicago's culture of corruption. For example, aldermanic privilege lent credibility to then-Ald. Ed Burke's threat to block a Burger King construction project in his ward if the restaurant's owners refused to hire Burke's law firm and make a campaign donation. The extortion attempt helped put Burke in federal prison. A lesser-known attribute of aldermanic privilege is the way it perpetuates racial and economic inequities in Chicago. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said as much in 2023 after investigating a complaint from Chicago fair housing groups that aldermanic privilege perpetuates racial segregation in housing. 'By limiting the availability of affordable housing, the local veto disproportionately harms Black and Hispanic households,' HUD found. In addition to enabling corruption and exacerbating discrimination, aldermanic privilege also can simply enable bad policy — or block the adoption of good law. That's what is happening with the push to prevent expansion of accessory dwelling units across the city. The move to expand the use of granny flats and other ADUs is long overdue. It has been in the works since before 2021, when a pilot project launched in five test zones began — two each on the North and South sides and one on the West Side. Until then, ADUs were banned citywide, due to 1957 vintage zoning codes designed to reduce the risk of overpopulation. Redlining and blockbusting were the go-to tactics of race-based housing discrimination back then, and academic studies have shown the ban on granny flats was informed by segregationist intent, too. Overpopulation is no longer a concern. Chicago has lost around 800,000 residents since 1957. But rising economic inequity and increased gentrification are making it ever more difficult for many people to find decent, affordable housing. And the lack of affordable housing exacerbates racial and economic segregation, too. The delay by the City Council is all the more confounding because early results from the city's five pilot zones show some promise, but also some lessons that there is more work to do to bring more affordable, accessible housing to neighborhoods across the city. According to a report by my organization, the Better Government Association's Illinois Answers Project, around 300 units have popped up in the zones, but 90% of them are on the North Side. This means the West and South Side zones that could benefit substantially from new housing have not yet seen much impact. A restriction limiting ADU to owner-occupied properties, added only in the West and South Side zones, may have contributed to the limited adoption in those neighborhoods. Most of the new ADUs are in remodeled basements, where both construction costs and occupancy numbers tend to be smaller, not the coach houses that feed concerns among some opponents about population and building density, Illinois Answers reporter Alex Nitkin found. The pilot test, alongside lessons from other cities with more open ADU policies, have informed some of the compromises adopted in order to get the proposal out of the City Council's zoning committee last month. Limiting permits to owner-occupied buildings throughout the city is one of them. So are limits on the number of permits per block, based on zoning. The proposal also limits the use of granny flats for short-term rentals. Other cities have provided further protections that could be worth considering: requiring off-street parking, for example. But an Urban Land Institute study published just before Lightfoot launched the pilot-zone test warned that some such measures can impede the growth and socioeconomic benefit of ADUs. The City Council likely will take up the measure in September. Meanwhile, state Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, has drafted a bill for the state legislature that would ban prohibitions on ADUs and add measures designed to encourage their construction. The benefits of ADUs and the momentum toward removal of the ban are powerful enough that aldermanic privilege must not be allowed to stand in their way. A city ordinance drafted with appropriate safeguards could help address the city's housing shortage at minimum cost to our cash-strapped city. In other words, ADUs are an idea whose time has come — and the delays caused by the claims of aldermanic privilege are yet another reason why the end to that outdated tradition is long past due.
