Utility Regulation in New Orleans: How City Council Jurisdiction Differs from the LPSC

Call the Louisiana Public Service Commission about an Entergy New Orleans outage or a Delta Utilities gas rate, and you might hear something unexpected. Wrong office.

Orleans Parish runs on its own rulebook, and the City Council, not the Commission, holds the pen.

That split trips up out-of-state investors, new utility staff, and plenty of longtime residents. New Orleans is one of only two places in the country, alongside Washington, D.C., where a city government regulates an investor-owned utility even though a state commission exists to do that exact job. Knowing which body has jurisdiction, and where that authority runs out, changes who you call, who you file with, and who actually decides your rate.

Marionneaux Kantrow, LLC tracks both sides of that divide for clients with interests on either side of the Orleans Parish line. Here’s how the City Council’s authority actually works, and where the LPSC’s picks back up.

Key Takeaways

• New Orleans is one of only two places in the U.S., along with Washington, D.C., where a city government regulates an investor-owned electric and gas utility despite a state commission’s existence.
• The City Council’s authority traces to the New Orleans Home Rule Charter, not to the Louisiana Constitution provision that created the LPSC.
• The Council regulates Entergy New Orleans and Delta Utilities directly, while the LPSC regulates every other investor-owned electric and gas utility in the state, including Entergy Louisiana.
• The Council Utilities Committee sets policy while the Council Utilities Regulatory Office handles the day-to-day regulatory work out of City Hall.
• As of August 1, 2026, the Council also holds substantially expanded oversight of the Sewerage and Water Board under a new state law, shifting authority that previously sat with the Legislature.

If you’re operating across both regulatory regimes, or you’re not sure which one actually controls your situation, Marionneaux Kantrow, LLC can sort out where your matter belongs before a hearing date sneaks up on you.

Why New Orleans Doesn’t Answer to the LPSC

New Orleans regulates its own electric and gas utility because its Home Rule Charter says so, not because the Louisiana Constitution carved out a special exception for the city. The provision that created the LPSC covers investor-owned utilities across the rest of the state. New Orleans predates that arrangement and simply never gave up the authority it already held.

The result puts Orleans Parish in rare company nationally. Outside Washington, D.C., no other American city regulates an investor-owned utility while a state public service commission also exists. Everywhere else in Louisiana, from Shreveport to Lake Charles, the LPSC is the only regulator in the room.

The Home Rule Charter Behind the Council’s Authority

The arrangement traces back further than most people assume. New Orleans Public Service Inc., Entergy’s predecessor, operated under an indeterminate permit the City Council granted in 1922, the same kind of local franchise agreement cities once issued to streetcar lines and gas works before state-level regulation became standard. When the LPSC’s modern authority took shape decades later, New Orleans kept its own permit system instead of folding into the Commission’s structure.

That franchise history still carries weight today. Disputes over Entergy’s service territory, or over whether a competing provider violated the terms of that permit, get decided by reference to the Council’s franchise powers rather than an LPSC certificate of public convenience and necessity.

Who the City Council Actually Regulates

The Council’s jurisdiction covers two specific companies. Entergy New Orleans handles electric service, and Delta Utilities took over local natural gas distribution after a 2025 ownership change. Both answer to the Council for rates, reliability standards, and terms of service inside Orleans Parish, the same categories the LPSC would review anywhere else in the state.

A New Orleans utility regulation attorney representing either company, or a party disputing one of their filings, argues those cases before the Council’s own committee structure rather than the Commission’s five elected members in Baton Rouge.

Inside the Council Utilities Committee and CURO

Two bodies inside City Hall carry out the Council’s regulatory work, and they split the job differently than most people expect.

The Council Utilities Committee Sets Direction

The Council Utilities Committee reviews rate cases, reliability complaints, and policy questions, then makes recommendations to the full seven-member Council for a final vote. Every major Entergy New Orleans rate increase in recent memory has passed through this committee first.

The Utilities Regulatory Office Runs the Day-to-Day

The Council Utilities Regulatory Office, based in Room 6E07 of City Hall, staffs the technical and legal side of that work and fields individual ratepayer complaints directly. Residents disputing an Entergy bill file their formal complaint there rather than with any state agency, using a process the office administers on the Council’s behalf.

Companies navigating both processes, often through a merger or a footprint that spans multiple parishes, should loop in a New Orleans utility regulation attorney early, since the filing requirements and timelines rarely match. Marionneaux Kantrow, LLC works both sides of that line.

Where the Council’s Power Stops

The Council’s authority is broad inside Orleans Parish, but it isn’t limitless, and one piece of that picture just changed. Several matters fall outside a straightforward Council utility filing:

• Entergy Louisiana, the separate Entergy subsidiary serving the rest of the state, which answers to the LPSC instead
• Interstate matters before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, where the Council participates as an intervenor rather than a primary regulator
• The Sewerage and Water Board, which sits in its own category entirely: as of August 1, 2026, a new state law hands the Council substantially expanded oversight of the S&WB’s budget, contracts, and executive leadership – authority that previously required going through the Legislature. It’s a significant shift, but the S&WB still isn’t folded into the same Utilities Committee process the Council uses for Entergy and Delta, since it isn’t an investor-owned utility.

Anything crossing one of these lines needs a different regulatory strategy than a straightforward Council filing.

FAQs About New Orleans Utility Regulation vs. LPSC

Does the LPSC have any authority in New Orleans at all?

Only indirectly. The LPSC regulates every other investor-owned utility in the state, but inside Orleans Parish, the City Council holds that authority instead under its own Home Rule Charter powers.

What happened to Entergy New Orleans’ gas operations?

Delta Utilities, a New Orleans-based company, acquired the local gas distribution business in 2025 and now answers to the City Council for gas rates and service the same way Entergy New Orleans does for electric.

Who regulates the Sewerage and Water Board?

Its governance just changed. As of August 1, 2026, a new state law shifts significantly more oversight of the S&WB, including its budget, contracts, and executive-director hiring — from the Legislature to the City Council. It’s still not an investor-owned utility, so it doesn’t move through the same Utilities Committee process as Entergy or Delta, but “the Council has some influence” understates where things stand now.

Where do I file a utility complaint if I live in New Orleans?

Contact the Council Utilities Regulatory Office directly, since New Orleans ratepayer complaints don’t go through the district Commissioner offices used everywhere else in the state.

Does the City Council set rates the same way the LPSC does elsewhere?

The basic process is similar. A rate case moves through hearings before a decision comes down. The Council’s Utilities Committee handles that review instead of the Commission’s five elected members.

Marionneaux Kantrow, LLC: Louisiana Utility and Regulatory Counsel

Two regulators, one parish line, and a legislative session that could move that line entirely- that’s the reality anyone with utility interests touching New Orleans has to work with right now. Marionneaux Kantrow, LLC follows Louisiana’s regulatory landscape from the Capitol to Orleans Parish.

If your business, transaction, or dispute sits anywhere near that Orleans Parish boundary, reach out today, and we’ll help you figure out which regulator actually has the final say.