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Insights > A message from David Ellis – Managing Through the COVID-19 Crisis
A message from David Ellis – Managing Through the COVID-19 Crisis
03/19/2020
(UPDATE - Entergy New Orleans is extending the suspension of disconnects for nonpayment through May 15)
These are unprecedented times for all of us, and at Entergy New Orleans we take the health, safety and security of our customers, communities, employees and business partners very seriously. We are committed to powering our customers and communities regardless of the circumstance.
I wanted to personally share the steps we are taking to ensure we continue to deliver on our commitment to provide safe, reliable and affordable power to our customers. We understand that the energy we deliver is essential to managing through the COVID-19 crisis.
Safety is a core value for our company. That means the safety of our employees, customers and communities. We implemented our incident response plan nearly two months ago to ensure the safety of our employees and operations. These steps include education around self-checking for symptoms, telecommuting, social distancing and other precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19. We will continue to monitor the situation and implement any recommended public health measures as directed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition, we are committed to working closely with local, state and federal authorities as the crisis unfolds.
From the power plants that generate electricity to the power lines and gas infrastructure that deliver energy to your home, we are making sure that we have the employees available to ensure the reliable operation of our systems. Our Customer Care Centers currently remain open for those who require in-person services. We have instituted a number of intentional measures at our Customer Care Centers to ensure that our customers and employees remain safe. Some of the measures like customer-spacing and fewer cashiers may slow service over the near term, but they are necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19. It may, in the future become necessary to temporarily close the centers as we institute other preventive measures to ensure that our operations and facilities remain safe, secure and reliable.
For service that requires an employee to enter your home or business, we ask for your patience and cooperation as we implement new protocols/procedures that ensures the safety of our customers and our employees.
Additionally, as we prepare for spring storms, we are taking the steps to ensure that we have the people and resources to respond to outages as severe weather season begins.
We are also taking steps to help our customers through these challenging and uncertain times. Effective March 15, Entergy New Orleans has suspended electric and natural gas service disconnections for the next 30 days. However, we encourage customers to make payments on their accounts, and we’ll be working directly with customers to make payment arrangements if they are unable to pay in full. Customers requiring such arrangements should call 1-800-ENTERGY (800-368-3749), visit myAccount, or visit one of our customer care centers and speak with a customer service representative.
For payments, please visit us online at https://entergy.com/payonline to make a payment at no charge, pay by phone at 800-584-1241 ($2.95 fee) or by mail to Entergy New Orleans, P.O. Box 8106, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70891.
In our 100 years of serving our customers, we have faced many challenges together. But we have never wavered in our commitment to do everything we can to support our customers and the communities we serve. This pandemic is no different. Entergy New Orleans will be there to keep the lights on and our future bright.
Sincerely,
David Ellis
President and CEO, Entergy New Orleans, LLC
