Entergy claims that paid actors who appeared at public hearings to support construction of a gas-fired power plant in New Orleans East were hired "without Entergy’s knowledge or approval."
found that dozens of orange shirt-wearing supporters who appeared at New Orleans City Council hearings concerning Entergy's construction of the $210 million plant were paid through Crowds on Demand, which does what it sounds like.
According , Crowds on Demand was hired by the public relations firm that Entergy hired to organize "local grassroots support" for the plant. That firm, The Hawthorn Group, was contracted to mobilize "up to 75 grassroots supporters, 10 of whom would speak, for the October 16, 2017 public meeting and up to 30 grassroots supporters, including 10 speakers, for the February 21, 2018, public meeting," but "the contract with Hawthorn did not contemplate or authorize that any of these supporters would be paid for their attendance."
[jump] [content-1] “These kinds of activities run directly counter to the way we conduct our business,” said Entergy General Counsel Marcus Brown. "We apologize to the Council, the community, and to the many supporters of the New Orleans Power Station project who took their own time to attend those public hearings and express their support for this important project. We are extremely grateful for that support, and regret that the poor judgment and unauthorized actions of a few created this situation.”
Actors were paid $60 for showing up to meetings and $200 for "speaking roles," , in a sort of legal practice known as astroturfing.
The City Council ultimately approved construction plans in March with a 6-1 vote on the resolution. (Then-District A Councilmember Susan Guidry was the sole "no" vote.)
Entergy says its amending its contracting rules to ensure that "all new applicable contracts expressly prohibit the practice of paying supporters to attend or speak at any meeting before any governmental, regulatory or other agency with oversight over Entergy’s operations."
Those hired "grassroots" supporters met opposition from a large, diverse groups of neighbors and environmental advocates, representing an actual grassroots push from members of the East's Vietnamese communities and groups like the Sierra Club, among others, warning against potential environmental impacts and the increased rates that residents will be charged to foot the bill for the project's construction.
The Council largely agreed a new plant would address immediate concerns about the city’s inability to generate local power in the event of an emergency — through opponents and the Council agreed there still is work to be done to improve Entergy's unreliable transmission lines, particularly after ongoing infrastructure issues impacting residents.
Guidry argued that rather than paying Entergy to update its transmission lines, ratepayers will instead pay for a plant that ultimately will become obsolete.
If plant construction continues, it's expected to come online in January 2020.
With five new councilmembers on deck, the City Council could take up the issue to determine whether the public hearing process was compromised, several councilmembers told Gambit.