Added electric fees leave many Thibodaux users feeling heated

Thibodaux residents angered by hurricane and fuel adjustment fees that have been appearing on electric bills since last October got their say at last week’s city council meeting.

Thibodaux City Councilman Lloyd “Chip” Badeaux told Entergy representative Harry Shields that many residents felt they were being unfairly charged.

People understand running air conditioners in the scorching summer months is costly, Badeaux said, arguing that the hurricane fee the company has been charging since October 2008 was unwarranted.

Shields told the council the fee – 13.43 percent of their total usage – has been assessed by Entergy to recoup around $600 million in restoration work for damages from hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

“Before Hurricane Andrew, we were given $1.2 million for repairs and restoration, as allocated by the Public Service Commission,” he said. “But having back-to-back storms twice over a three-year time ate up that money pretty quickly.”

The fee was assessed to last for a maximum of 10 years, Shields said. However, if there aren’t any storms to hit south Louisiana for some time, the rate could drop sooner than the allocated period.

“After the damage done by Katrina, someone came up with a plan to bond this money out at a lower interest rate, which would save our customers money,” Shields explained. “We expected this rate to be anywhere from 2.5 to 4 percent, but that was pre-Gustav.”

Badeaux said that Entergy New Orleans Inc., the supplier of energy to Orleans Parish, charges its customers 2.7 percent.

According to Shields, those charges were assessed by a different Entergy entity, not the same that provides the power in Lafourche Parish.

New Orleans is run by Entergy Gulf States, while Lafourche Parish is run by Entergy Louisiana.

“(New Orleans fees are) allocated by the city council. We are under the Public Service Commission,” Shields explained. “Two separate Entergy corporations.”

As for the fuel adjustment charge, Shields said that charge has been on bills for over 30 years, but may have gone unnoticed by Entergy customers.

He said the charge adjusts for the cost of natural gas, which peaks at times.

“That is based on our usage,” he said. “The more they use the more it’ll cost. We have no say-so in the price of natural gas.”

He encouraged the council to direct residents to call 1-800-ENTERGY for any questions regarding their electric bills.