Entergy New Orleans made a bold statement last year: It would host LIX Super Bowl next month at Caesars Superdome. The idea is to supply “clean power” to the entire city for three days before and after the event.
The problem is that the company doesn’t actually have enough carbon-free electricity to power the city during that period.
Instead, Entergy New Orleans is now embarking on an unusual energy exchange with its affiliate, Entergy Louisiana. The New Orleans company plans to provide more than 3,300 megawatt-hours of electricity for three days from an old nuclear power plant in the rolling hills of St. Francisville, 160 miles away, according to regulatory filings. That’s what it means.
However, this does not mean that emissions will decrease due to this event. In return, Entergy New Orleans will send an equal amount of electricity from its natural gas-fired power plant in Westwego to Entergy Louisiana, according to the documents.
The energy exchange comes despite years of urging from local officials and advocates to clean up the power grid and bring New Orleans in line with carbon-free goals. This highlights that there are still gaps in the ability to Entergy New Orleans gets only 6% of its electricity from the sun. Nuclear provides just under a third of Entergy’s electricity.
According to regulatory filings, Entergy is seeking to draw positive attention from the deal, which will generate electricity from a solar farm in the desert during Super Bowl III in Las Vegas. This comes a year after supply became a hot topic. Keith Wood, Entergy’s director of resource planning and market operations, wrote in a regulatory filing that this represents the company’s “ambitious sustainability goals.”
“This agreement also allows the NFL to promote that the Super Bowl is run entirely by ‘clean power,'” Wood wrote. “This brings positive attention to the City of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana at a time when New Orleans and the State of Louisiana’s economic growth is inextricably tied to the ability of electric utilities to provide ‘clean power’ to future customers.” “It’s not just about attracting people, it’s about maintaining the city’s status as a desirable Super Bowl destination.”
Next month will be the 11th time New Orleans will host the Super Bowl, tying Miami for the most. Local and state leaders are rushing to repair crumbling infrastructure and clear homeless encampments to please Super Bowl organizers and attendees. Also visit: New Orleans is safe after the city made international headlines in the new year with the Bourbon Street terrorist attack that killed 14 people and injured dozens We have also endeavored to provide assurances to those concerned.
Jesse George, New Orleans policy director for the Alliance for Affordable Energy, a consumer advocacy group, said Entergy’s board of directors, which regulates the company, quietly approved the deal at a board meeting last month. He called the power exchange a “shell game.”
“Entergy’s inability to provide clean energy is due to a lack of investment in renewable energy and transmission that could bring in cheaper, cleaner renewable energy from outside the region,” George said.
Beau Tidwell, a spokesperson for Entergy New Orleans, said in a statement that the move was not a requirement of the Super Bowl, but rather a proactive move by Entergy. He said Entergy’s customers would not incur any additional costs associated with the deal, and asked that shareholders cover any excess charges.
He added that nuclear power, which does not emit carbon dioxide, accounts for about 30% of resources.
Entergy and its affiliates have not historically adopted renewable energy such as solar or wind as a significant part of their portfolio, instead relying on relatively cheap and plentiful natural gas to power large-scale power plants. It supplies electricity and provides reliable profits to listed companies.
Entergy Louisiana plans to use natural resources in north Louisiana to power Meta’s massive data centers, which are competing with other tech giants to build artificial intelligence infrastructure cheaply and quickly. It proposes further investment in gas plants. The state Legislature also passed tax credits that will save millions of dollars.
