Getting hit with a $40,000 power bill can make your stomach drop. Eric Cook’s stomach did just that when Entergy New Orleans sent him a notice earlier this month basically saying he had to pay that $40,000 bill or have power cut off at his French Quarter restaurant, Saint John on Decatur Street.
“We’re a family run operation. Fear, that’s the first emotion that comes over you. It’s panic you know? Immediately, we point the attention toward ourselves. What did we do wrong? We think we’ve made a mistake, and we just go into this tailspin which we really haven’t come out of yet,” said Cook.
That all unfolded at the beginning of November, but Cook told me his problems with Entergy New Orleans have been going on for two years.
Cook owns and operates two restaurants in New Orleans: Gris Gris in the city’s Lower Garden District and Saint John in the French Quarter. The bill that Cook is trying to pay off is attached to his French Quarter restaurant. According to Cook, he moved into the Decatur Street building in July of 2021 but never got a power bill from Entergy New Orleans until December of 2022. Cook says he and the building’s owner contacted the company’s customer service multiple times during that period to explain how there was a change of ownership and tenants and that they had not received bills from the company.
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“So, July 2021 to December 2022, nothing. All of a sudden December 2022 they notify us OK, we’ll take care of this now and to process that you owe us all this backpay for these meters and we’re like what are you talking? The first bill they gave to us was $18,000. I think their procedure, which is stated on their billing, they only had the opportunity to go back six months to adjust billing, to recoup six months of their neglect of their customer. Recouping money off of us for something that clearly, we could do nothing about. There is physically nothing we could do to make them be more aware of the fact that we were there in the building,” Cook told me.
Cook says throughout this year, he tried to contact customer service to establish a plan to pay off the bill which by November, had grown to $40,000. Cook says he received a notice on November 1st that stated power to his French Quarter restaurant would be cut off if his business did not pay the bill in full by November 8th. Cook says the restaurant’s power was turned off on November 1st. Cook was beyond frustrated and made those frustrations public. Members of the New Orleans City Council took notice and within a few days power was restored at Cook’s restaurant. He’s now trying to work with Entergy New Orleans on a repayment plan. Although grateful for the help that he received, Cook says how it all went down was “typical New Orleans.”
“The only reason I had the ability to bring attention to it is because I have a voice because I have an outspoken voice as a chef in New Orleans who’s been outspoken before on issues. I am in this big predicament I’m shouting from the mountaintop it’s wrong and I get help, which is great, which is what it should be for everyone, but I’m getting privilege here because I’m a restaurant because I have a big mouth because it’s making a social media presence. I kind of got the wink-wink and the nod, and I had to say thank you but you’re wrong for doing it. But what about one of my employees maybe who struggling to pay bills and they’re trying to reach out to someone? They can’t scream from the heavens. And there are other people in this city who often just lose a basic human right and that’s to have food, shelter and electricity,” Cook said.
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Cook’s experience with Entergy New Orleans may seem outrageous but his complaints and frustrations with the company are not unique.
Many Entergy and Entergy New Orleans customers have expressed their shock and anger with extremely high bills and a lack of help from customer service. According to a study by the non-profit newsroom Verite, energy bills from the company are rising at their fastest pace in two decades. Eric Cook spoke very candidly about how the cost of utilities, crumbling infrastructure and a lack of leadership is putting New Orleans and its people at risk. Listen to the conversation here.