Latest news with #LoganBurke
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Electric bills are rising while pathways for aid are threatened at state, federal level
A utility crew restores power at a New Orleans intersection after Hurricane Francine in September 2024. (John Gray/Verite News) 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. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 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.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX This article first appeared on Verite News New Orleans and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Solar for Y'all' faces hazy future in Louisiana
Workers install solar panels on the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Net-Zero Energy Residential Test Facility in Gaithersburg, Md. (Photo courtesy of NIST) The future of millions of dollars in funding to help low-income Louisiana residents access solar energy has grown increasingly uncertain as the Trump administration attempts to slash grant programs awarded under its predecessor. Last year, the state was given $156 million of Inflation Reduction Act funding to launch Louisiana's Solar for All program, dubbed Solar for Y'all by the Louisiana Department of Energy and Natural Resources (LDENR). The money is expected to boost development of rooftop or community solar for residences and apartment buildings. It will also help fund more solar-powered resilience hubs to provide safe havens after hurricanes. The program is 'designed not only to put solar on people's rooftops who couldn't otherwise afford it, but also to invest in communities and invest in homes,' said Logan Burke, executive director for the Alliance for Affordable Energy, a utility watchdog group. 'There's a desperate need for that investment in Louisiana.' Solar for All is one of three grant programs created to comply with Congress's creation of the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. The IRA directed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to spend $7 billion on grants to help low-income and disadvantaged communities install or benefit from technology that produces zero climate-warming emissions, specifically mentioning rooftop solar. Of the three grant programs, only Solar for All has survived so far. On March 11, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced he had canceled the other two programs, terminating $20 billion worth of contracts. Zeldin claimed his office had documented 'incidents of misconduct, conflicts of interest and potential fraud' that hurt the programs' integrity. However, a collective of former EPA employees say there hasn't been substantial evidence of the claim. 'Any instability in an expected funding mechanism throws businesses,' said Burke, adding that such projects have wide-ranging economic benefits. So far, the LDENR is still crafting its plan for the state program. That plan will then go before the EPA for approval before being implemented. Sweeping cuts Since Trump took office Jan. 20, the EPA has canceled more than 400 contracts the Biden administration awarded under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. LDENR spokesman Patrick Courreges said the state agency's preparation to launch the program hasn't been disrupted. Despite the noise, he said they were proceeding as normal. 'We're not blind or deaf. We know what's out there, but at the moment all we've got to work with is the current status,' Courreges said, noting the LDENR staff has been in regular communication with the EPA to ensure they follow any requirements and comply with federal guidance. But, as uncertainty looms, the solar industry and renewable energy advocates worry the program will be stopped before the historic federal investment makes any real impact. Monika Gerhart, executive director for the Gulf States Renewable Energy Industries Association, said the $156 million was seed money for solar companies to ramp up investments in the state. 'Once you have that federal investment, then it results in more projects, direct and indirect economic benefits that don't rely on federal funding,' she said. Wide-ranging economic impacts Gerhart said the economic impact of the federal money can multiply by 'around three to five times' the amount invested in solar projects at this scale. This means the total value of the economic impact of $156 million in startup money could range anywhere from $468 million to $780 million in Louisiana. She said that this money would spur indirect benefits such as 'accelerated market development, innovation, technology advancements and investment in new Louisiana manufacturing' as well as the direct benefits of job creation and increased access to affordable energy. Jesse George, a policy director for the Alliance for Affordable Energy, said development of community solar projects would help lower energy bills in a state where its poorest have some of the highest energy burdens in the country. For example, in New Orleans, some households spend nearly a third of their income on energy bills. In 2023, almost one in five Entergy New Orleans customers 'were disconnected for inability to pay their record high bills,' George said. Community solar projects involve large solar arrays that sell the energy to utilities and share the savings with residents who subscribe to the project, typically paying a small monthly fee. The residents receive credit toward their energy bill without having to install solar at their own homes. George said if the program is canceled, it would be 'a huge blow to expanding access to these money-saving technologies for people.' The program also helps low-income homeowners update their houses to ensure they're strong enough to handle the addition of solar panels, Burke said. Upgrading a home's roof would help with more than just solar. 'So much of what we've seen over the last number of years — especially following the years of [hurricanes] Laura, Delta, Zeta, Ida — is how many rooftops are still blue [covered with tarps], how many folks still haven't had the cash flow to invest in structural; not just upgrades, but just addressing major issues like this,' Burke said. The upgrades for solar panels could help fortify the roof against storms and bring down insurance costs, she said. Past presidential precedents Whether Trump's EPA can cancel the program is an open legal question. Legal experts have said the administration is not only testing the limits of the executive branch's power but trying to expand it. The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power of the purse, making it the sole branch that can appropriate and approve spending. Then, it's the executive branch's, or the president's, job to carry out that spending. Refusing to spend money on what it's been allocated for goes against the separation of powers — a bedrock principle of democracy, many legal scholars say. Abby Husselbee, a staff attorney at Harvard University's Environmental and Energy Law Program, said this isn't the first time a president has tried to avoid carrying out congressional appropriations. In the 1970s, former President Richard Nixon tried the same tactic: holding funds to effectively veto the approved programs. In response, Congress passed the Impoundment Control Act to reinforce the Constitution's separation of powers and make the president's limitations clear. While presidents are allowed to delay spending, they're required to report to Congress for temporary pauses or permanent cancellations. Temporary delays can't extend beyond the current fiscal year. To cancel funding, the president has to propose the action to Congress. If Congress doesn't approve, the money must be released. As the end of Trump's first term neared, conservative legal scholars began propping up a theory that these limits on the president's discretion on spending were unconstitutional. On the campaign trail, the president shared his plans to hold funds to cut 'wasteful spending.' Unlike Nixon, the Trump administration is trying to claw back money that has already been awarded. 'It's raising really important questions about the way we have traditionally understood those roles,' Husselbee said. She noted that specific government contracts can't be terminated unless the agency finds reasoning within the terms. Otherwise, it could be grounds for legal challenges. 'If we were to see awards get terminated, that isn't the full end of the story with money,' Husselbee said. The EPA is already rife with litigation. The agency's sweeping termination of the National Clean Investment Fund and Clean Communities Investment Accelerator — the two other Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund programs — came amid an onslaught of lawsuits questioning the legality of previous grant contract terminations. One lawsuit alleges that the EPA's actions 'effectively nullify a congressionally mandated and funded program.' Congress asked to make cuts Congress has had mixed reactions to the attempts by the Trump administration, split along party lines. House Democrats launched an investigation into the EPA's stalled climate funding last week, while Republicans led the passage of a budget resolution that advocates worry could largely scrap the IRA's climate and clean energy investments. U.S. Rep. Troy Carter Sr., D-New Orleans, sits on the House Energy and Commerce committee tasked with cutting $880 billion from the budget to pay for steeper tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. He said as more judges declare Trump's actions illegal, Republicans have pivoted to the budget, and other programs could be caught in the crossfire. In addition to clean energy, 'the only way to get to $880 billion would be to cut Medicaid and Medicare,' Carter said. Cutting programs such as Medicaid and Solar for All would have ripple effects that extend across party lines, the congressman added. 'It's not only impacting Democrats. It's impacting Republicans. It's impacting people throughout our country,' Carter said. 'When the storms come and power outages are in effect, no one asked what party, what race, what's your socioeconomic background.' Despite threats to renewable energy projects under a new Trump administration, the solar industry is expected to grow in 2025, accounting for up to 81% of new power added to electric grids across the nation, according to a new report from the Energy Information Administration. 'Energy demand has continued to grow, and we have demonstrated that we need all of the energy that's available,' Gerhart said. 'Solar creates a pretty good way to reach rising energy demands very quickly … at a reasonable cost.'
