New Orleans area residents cry foul amid soaring gas bills: ‘I can’t afford to pay this’

Morva Ory, 83, lives on a fixed income in the same Broadmoor home she’s lived in for decades. 

She rarely uses her gas stove after her femur broke and her hip was replaced. Instead, she microwaves most of her food. And over the years, she’s experienced winters far colder than the freezes that hit the Southeast region this season.

So when her gas bill skyrocketed this month from less than $80 to $300, she was dumbfounded.

“I can’t afford to pay this,” she said. “I’m just going to pay what I think I owe them.”

Ory is one of thousands across the state who are fraught over gas bills that have soared in some cases this winter.

Residents have taken to social media, public forums and elected officials to voice their anger over a utility bill that has traditionally been a blip on their radar.

Delta Utilities, the state’s largest natural gas provider, took over gas operations from Entergy in July. Officials have blamed the issue on customer usage, a separate gas and electric bill structure customers are now seeing and a volatile natural gas market burdened by recent cold weather spikes.

Delta Utilities CEO Tim Poche last week told the Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities for all parishes except New Orleans, that 11% of Delta’s gas supplies were purchased at record-breaking prices during Winter Storm Fern, which combined with higher usage from cold weather caused a spike in customers’ bills.

He also said that he expects relief to come soon as spring draws near.

“As warmer weather approaches, people will use less gas. We’re already seeing the cost of gas normalize to much lower than what it closed at for that February pricing,” he said.

Ory and others say their usage hasn’t changed compared to their Entergy bills from the previous year during the same time period. Similar resident stories of steep gas bills have circulated across the New Orleans metro area in recent weeks, with residents’ frustration bolstered by other rising costs, like soaring home insurance premiums and monthly housing costs that are 13.6% higher than the national average.

The New Orleans City Council, which regulates the city’s utility operations, approved the controversial utility sale in late 2024, under a deal that required Entergy to share a portion of its proceeds with ratepayers to minimize the impact of expected increases. Cost increases would also be frozen for two years before rising $3 a month thereafter.

Critics opposed the move, believing the higher costs would be absorbed by customers and that it would go against the city’s climate action goals to reduce gas emissions.

City Council President JP Morrell, who chairs the council’s Utility, Cable, Telecommunications and Technology Committee, did not respond to a request for comment. But at a committee meeting earlier this month that addressed the cost increases, Morell acknowledged the council’s initial assumptions that rates would stay the same and urged Delta officials to promote a levelized billing option.

Delta officials have also blamed higher bills on customers being dropped from their levelized billing plans with Entergy during the transition. They say customers struggling with bills should opt in to Delta’s levelized billing program, which averages a customer’s previous 12 months of bills to create a consistent monthly bill. 

Ory and Mid-City resident Jo Ann Korejo said they were never enrolled in the program under Entergy and have no interest in enrolling out of fears they would still pay more in the long run if costs continue to climb.

Korejo said she’s seen steady increases since the Baton Rouge-based firm took over. The first bill she received in July was $15. The next three months she got bills that were around $30, before they jumped to $43 the next billing cycle. Her December-January bill was $153, however. Her latest doubled, to $301.

Seeking clarity, Korejo called a Delta customer service representative who compared her usage to the previous year and found it was relatively the same. But the Delta official said the cost of natural gas had gone up substantially. 

Korejo was then referred to the United Way of Southeast Louisiana, where Delta recently launched a program to help low-income customers, putting $200,000 towards the effort for 2026. If approved, customers receive a once-per-year $250 credit applied to their accounts.

“I said, ‘Ma’am, I’m not going to qualify for that,’” Korejo said, noting that her income doesn’t meet the federal poverty threshold. It felt like the conversation went nowhere, she said. “I was so upset I had to get out of the house and go walk for a mile.”

New Orleans resident Laura McLean said her gas bill this month was $174, while her electric bill was $80. Before the transition, her combined electric and gas bills rarely went above $200 a month.

“Our insurance rates have gone up, so have our property taxes. It’s like everything in Orleans Parish is getting more and more pricey,” she said.

With central air and heat and a gas stove they don’t often use, McLean speculated that much of her family’s gas usage is eaten up by their tankless water heater. She’s concerned costs will continue to be higher than they were under Entergy moving forward.

The issue of rising bills prompted neighborhood groups like the Gentilly Terrace Association to hold a community meeting this week to seek answers from Delta representatives.

The Public Service Commission also questioned the company this week and agreed to move up its standard two-year audit of Delta’s billing and finances to this summer.