The Lens (https://thelensnola.org/author/michaelstein/)
The New Orleans City Council utility committee on Wednesday advanced a plan for Entergy New Orleans to add 90 megawatts of solar energy to its portfolio.
“This has been a really drawn-out process that started all the way back in 2016,” Councilwoman and utility chair Helena Moreno said. “The council has had to come in multiple times to push Entergy to make all of this work and get to where we are today.”
Council plan calls for a new solar plant in eastern New Orleans, solar purchases from outside the city. The coalition’s plan aims to get the city to 100 percent renewable energy by 2040.
As Tropical Storm Barry bears down on Louisiana, city of New Orleans officials are working to manage one of the city’s most vulnerable populations: unsheltered homeless people. The plan is to expand the capacity of the network of homeless shelters to accommodate anyone who needs room, then try to urge as many people inside as possible.
The plan also involved a round of homeless encampment sweeps on Thursday morning, which included the administration’s policy of throwing out all unattended tents.
According to Sarah Babcock, the New Orleans Health Department’s healthy population and planning manager, there are roughly 400 more homeless people in the city than there are beds in homeless shelters.
“We’ve been in contact with all of the homeless shelters, and just as they do in any disaster like a storm or a freeze night, they have the capacity to take in extra people,” said Health Department Director Jennifer Avegno.
Advocates fear that the limited area of the suspension will discourage some immigrants from evacuating.
Entergy is among the many US utilities who have started switching from coal to gas power, but have been slower to adopt renewables.
All four abortion restrictions were signed by the Governor, and could have a near-immediate impact on abortion access in Louisiana.
Owner is fined $2,500 and ordered to provide proof of booking cancellations.
The plan will double in-house staff and restructure advisers’ contracts.
The New Orleans City Council has worked toward more restrictive regulations on short-term rentals for the past year. Now council members want to tighten enforcement.
The plaintiffs said the use of paid actors in meetings aggravated the violations. Judge Piper Griffin ruled for the city in a second, related lawsuit.
