NEW ORLEANS (WVUE)—In just over two weeks, Entergy Louisiana customers will see an increase in their electricity bills.

The Public Service Commission announced that rates will rise by approximately two percent, which translates to about four dollars more monthly for residents across 58 parishes.

Many locals, like Jefferson Parish resident Dwight Myzette, are concerned about the timing of the increase.

“Things are expensive as it is. People are having a hard time making it these days. So, any increase of any amount, I don’t think it is fair,” Myzette commented.

“Even if it’s just a few dollars, it’s too much; it’s already too much,” Danielle Gonzales said.

The rate hike follows two settlements approved by the Public Service Commission. These agreements permit the increase and introduce a range of customer benefits.

Entergy announced that the settlement includes reducing late fees, eliminating connection and reconnection fees, and expanding eligibility for low-income senior bill discounts.

Public Service Commissioner Davante Lewis acknowledged the rate increase’s unpopularity, stating, “I’ll be honest, a rate increase is not a fan favorite, and I’m not happy to have voted for this. I voted for this simply because of all of the other customer benefits that really get Entergy on a path to be responsive to all of our customer needs.”

In an official statement, Entergy highlighted that the approved rate framework also capsizes profit margins and commits the company to strict reliability targets.

“We got 260 million dollars worth of credits. We ended a lot of litigation we were suing Entergy about for what we thought were violations in taxes and running uneconomical plants that were costing more money than they were producing,” Lewis explained.

To ensure accountability, the Public Service Commission has approved hiring an independent monitor to oversee Entergy’s $1.9 billion resilience plan, which was passed earlier this year.

For customers struggling to manage their bills, Entergy is directing them to their online “bill tool kit” for assistance.

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Construction to replace Louisiana’s most notorious bridge on Interstate 10 could finally begin this year, ultimately clearing a national chokepoint for cross-country commerce.

Republican Gov. Jeff Landry and his Louisiana Department of Transportation Secretary Joe Donahue this week announced a financial “notice to proceed” for the new $2.3 billion Calcasieu River Bridge in Lake Charles.

“Since I took office in January, my administration has remained committed to getting this critical project off the ground,” Landry said in a statement. “Reaching the notice to proceed is proof of that dedication to the people of Louisiana, as well as our continued drive to improve and modernize Louisiana’s infrastructure.”

President Biden and former President Trump have both identified the existing 72-year-old Calcasieu River Bridge as a symbol of America’s aging infrastructure.

The old bridge, a narrow, steep structure, is an iconic landmark with more than 5,000 crossed flintlock derringer pistols on both side rails, but it provides a white-knuckle ride for those driving the vehicles that cross it.

It’s rated 6.6 out of 100 by the National Bridge Inventory and there were unconfirmed rumors that the Secret Service wouldn’t let Biden cross it when he visited Lake Charles in 2021.

The old bridge was built to have a 50-year capacity and carry about one-third of the 90,000 plus vehicles that cross it today.

Its reputation is national.

In 2019 then President Trump promised if he was reelected, “We’re going to build a new I-10 bridge (in Lake Charles).”

“It impacts our supply chain for the entire country,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told USA Today Network in 2023 when he visited Lake Charles to announce a $150 federal grant from the bipartisan Infrastructure Act.

Now the funding, about $1.2 billion federal and state money in hand with the balance to be raised in tolls after the new bridge is built, is finally locked down.

“A new bridge is long overdue, and clearing this hurdle puts our state closer than ever to seeing construction on this essential project,” Donahue said.

The state signed the public-private partnership agreement with Calcasieu Bridge Partners in January to build the new bridge, a project that’s 5.5-mile footprint will stretch from Lake Charles to Westlake. The Louisiana State Bond Commission approved the sale of private activity bonds for the project at its July 24, 2024 meeting.

Estimated construction time is seven years.

More: Garret Graves makes push to end Social Security penalty for teachers on way out of Congress

Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Along a stretch of the Plaquemines Parish east bank, the Mississippi River is providing what coastal activists see as a no-cost coastal project.

In recent years, the river has plowed through its bank and transformed a tiny channel into the equivalent of one of the ten largest rivers in the U.S.

Neptune Pass is taking an estimated 16 percent of the Mississippi River flow during high water periods, according to Corps hydrologists.

In the process, groups active in the fight to restore Louisiana’s coast argue the river is providing a practically no-cost diversion.

“It is a restored ecosystem happening for free before our eyes,” said James Karst, Director of Communications and Marketing for the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana.

Neptune Pass, they say, is depositing sediment and creating new sections of delta in both Bay Denesse and Quarantine Bay.

Not everyone is thrilled at the prospect of nature taking its new course.

Shipping interests complain the pass has already affected navigation, causing the slower-moving river downstream to build sandbars.

The Corps, which initially had planned to close the channel entirely, now envisions a dual purpose for Neptune Pass.

A draft environmental assessment envisions a two-part approach to protecting the integrity of the main river channel: a stone sill at the water bottom with a 100-foot-wide notch to reduce the outflow from the river; and 20 V-shaped mounds to further reduce the velocity of the water moving into Quarantine Bay.

The Sediment Retention Enhancement Devices, or “SREDS” as the Corps calls them, would be built of earthen material, geotextile fabric, and stone riprap.

“We allowed an opening to allow river flow and sediments to leave the river and deposit in the bay, in the receiving area,” said David Ramirez, a Corps hydrologist.

Critics of river diversions have questioned whether the new land forming in the bays was merely land that had been displaced as the river widened the channel over the years.

While computer modeling suggests that displacement has accounted for about 70 percent of the new delta, Ramirez says the remaining 30 percent has been built from sediment deposited by the river.

“The more wetlands we have between where we live and the Gulf of Mexico, the more natural hurricane protection that we have,” Karst said.

Commercial fishing interests have complained large amounts of fresh water pouring through not only Neptune Pass, but other cuts on the east bank, have dramatically altered salinity levels and devastated oyster harvests.

“There’s some innovative ideas in the report, but at the same time, there’s a lot of scientific questions that still remain,” said Alex Kolker, a coastal scientist with the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium.

Kolker wants more detail about how the proposal would affect the river’s flow, whether SREDS would simply sink over time, and how long the flow would be sufficient to build land.

Under the Corps plan, Neptune Pass would take six percent of the river flow.

“Right now, we don’t have enough science to fully evaluate whether or not this is gonna work,” Kolker said.

The Corps is taking public comments on the proposal through the end of the month.

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