(New Orleans, LA) February 17, 2016 – This Tuesday Entergy filed a motion to temporarily suspend the City Council’s proceeding on its application for a proposed $216 million gas plant based on new data showing there will be a significant reduction in customer demand for electricity. Today, public interest groups filed a response and asked Entergy to make the data public. Community leaders welcomed the news.

“This news confirms what we’ve known all along – New Orleans shouldn’t be paying for a polluting gas plant that we don’t need,” said Dawn Hebert, New Orleans East resident. “Entergy’s proposed gas plant would be a flood risk, health risk, and raise utility bills across the city.”

Entergy has indicated the new data shows a significant reduction in the Company’s forecast yearly load, amounting to as much as 30 percent of the 2020 capacity need outlined in testimony supporting Entergy’s application to build the gas plant.

“This is Entergy’s version of ‘Hidden Figures,’” said Monique Harden, an attorney with the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, Inc., an intervenor in the Entergy gas plant application case. “How long has Entergy known about the data showing a reduced need for the proposed new gas plant? New Orleanians have every right to know this new information, which may require changes in Entergy’s plan for meeting the future needs of our city,” she said.

“Entergy must tell the truth because it will affect everyone in New Orleans, especially our communities in New Orleans East where Entergy wants to build the gas plant,” said Anthony Tran, Mary Queen of Vietnam Catholic Church.

“It’s a big deal for Entergy to ask for a suspension of the gas plant proceeding, and it’s encouraging to see that Entergy is admitting their miscalculation,” said Logan Burke, Director of the Alliance for Affordable Energy, a group which has been pointing to Entergy New Orleans’ flat load growth for years. “The new data reinforces that there is no need for New Orleanians to pay for this new gas plant, and it supports the consideration of cleaner alternatives to address future demand.”