Entergy Wants Some, Too

While you are planning on how we should use the CDBG money, don’t forget that it’s not just for housing:

[Entergy's chief executive officer J. Wayne] Leonard said Entergy had not determined how much money it will request from the Louisiana governor's office in federal community development block grant money that will be dispersed for hurricane recovery.

"We're going to ask for what we need," Leonard said, though adding that Gov. Kathleen Blanco has limited funds to deal with a plethora of major problems.

Unless relief comes, the Entergy system, particularly in New Orleans, faces major rate hike pressure that could stall or kill economic recovery and, in a worst-case scenario, force liquidation of the Entergy New Orleans unit, Leonard said.

"Without the help of community development block grants, particularly in New Orleans, the math just doesn't work," he said.

The math works. The numbers just aren’t big enough.