It’s not often we get to say this when it comes to electricity bills in Louisiana, but there’s finally some good news.
Last week, the Louisiana Public Service Commission approved a new set of programs for Entergy Louisiana customers that will save you money on electricity bills, while making the grid more reliable.
These programs are a perfect example of how we can meet needs for power by incentivizing people to use less energy. We don’t need to build more expensive fossil fuel plants.
That shift, from investing in infrastructure to investing in people, is a big deal.
The new programs, called “demand response,” are simple in concept. Entergy pays residents money to use a little less electricity at the times when the grid is under the most strain, when demand is high. Think summertime in Louisiana, when thousands of us are running A/C units on high. Or during the recent extreme cold weather and Winter Storm Fern, when everybody was inside and cranking up their heat to stay warm.
Here’s the thing most people don’t realize: as customers, we pay for everything utilities do. That includes building new power plants, transmission lines, storm repairs, fuel costs, operations, taxes, and of course, a profit of about 9 to 10% for utilities.
Because of that pricing structure, utilities are incentivized to build new things. When they build and spend more, they can charge customers more, increasing their profits.
It’s a system that worked when it was established in the early 1900s, when the infrastructure we needed didn’t exist. We needed the basics: power plants and substations and transmission and distribution lines to make and deliver electricity.
But now, it just incentivizes big expensive projects, even when there may be cheaper, smarter alternatives.
And that’s why demand response programs are so important. They offer a different path, one that invests in people while improving reliability and lowering costs.
Entergy smart thermostat rebate
For example, one of the newly approved programs, the Smart Thermostat Program, will call on residents to adjust their home’s thermostat by a few degrees when demand for energy is high.
On those days, residents will be notified by email or text and their smart thermostat will automatically make the adjustment. The temperature will only be adjusted a few degrees for around an hour at a time for a maximum of 80 hours a year. Studies of similar programs in other cities show that residents typically don’t feel any difference in their homes. But the adjustments noticeably help to ease strain on the electric grid.
The programs are voluntary. People can always manually override the changes and adjust their thermostat back to their preferred temperature. Customers who sign up will receive a $50 rebate per smart thermostat device, and $25 per device per year when they participate. (Entergy offers a rebate, aka money back, on the purchase of a smart thermostat.)
The payments are modest. But you will be part of a solution that results in fewer outages.
There are also other incentives we could deploy that have been successful in other states. In Spokane, where a friend’s cousin lives, the energy company charges a lower rate for power used outside of peak hours, kind of like cell-phone companies used to charge more for daytime hours. This is often called time-of-use-rates.
Most people in the city should qualify for the smart-thermostat program. People with solar panels and electric cars can also qualify for other incentives.
EV charging incentives
The second new program incentivizes electric vehicle owners to charge their home batteries overnight, from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., shifting from charging sessions during peak hours in the middle of the day. And a third new program for residents offers financial incentives to homeowners with solar panels and battery storage systems. Residents can participate in all three programs if they meet each program’s qualifications.
Individually, these may seem like small actions, but together they can significantly reduce strain on the grid — and our wallets.
By 2030, Entergy Louisiana expects to save 155 MW of electricity demand through the various programs, equivalent to the capacity of a small natural gas plant. Let that sink in: we can avoid spending millions of dollars on building a new fossil fuel power plant, just by paying people to use energy smarter.
Fewer new power plants and infrastructure means lower Entergy bills, because – as you know – the cost of building those plants shows up on all of our bills.
All of this raises a bigger question: if demand response works, why aren’t we doing more of it?
For too long our energy system has prioritized the interests and profits of utilities over the needs of residents. We don’t always need to build our way out of problems. Sometimes, the better investment is in people. That’s the kind of approach we need more of.
These programs are expected to roll out in the summer of 2026 and all eligible Entergy Louisiana customers can apply.
Alaina DiLaura is the LPSC Policy Coordinator for the Alliance for Affordable Energy.
Emma Meyerkopf is the Communications Manager for the Alliance for Affordable Energy.
