Reflecting on 2019, we are highlighting the top 10 ways we positively impacted the lives of tens of thousands of our neighbors while creating stronger, healthier and more vibrant communities.

1. Entergy earns spot on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for 18th consecutive year.��

2. Civic 50 recognizes Entergy as one of America’s most community-minded companies for 4th consecutive year.��

3. Entergy’s Super Tax Day program celebrates a decade of results, putting nearly $260 million back in the pockets of 150,000 low-income customers since 2009.��

4. Entergy sponsors the Hamilton Education Program, making history come to life for more than 2,600 high school students from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.��

5. Employees spend more than 100,000 hours volunteering in their community while the company awards nearly $16 million in grants to support local nonprofits.
6. Customers, employees and shareholders raise more than $2.6 million for The Power to Care to provide utility bill assistance to seniors and disabled customers.

7. Employee volunteers and community partners plant more than 28,000 trees and contribute time to wetlands restoration projects.
8. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce inducts Entergy into its Hall of Fame for Corporate Citizenship.��

9. Entergy and its advocacy partners help generate an increase of more than $54 million in local, state and federal funds to provide high-quality early childhood education for working families.
10. Entergy celebrates 10 years of No Place for Hate, our partnership with the Anti-Defamation League that has reached more than 300,000 students across Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas to create school cultures that celebrate diversity and combat bias and bullying behavior.

The community-driven recycling effort focused on reducing the adverse environmental effects of Carnival season. Beads, throws and other recyclable materials were collected during a Mardi Gras recycling initiative conducted through a new sustainability partnership between ���ϳԹ���, , , and . Volunteers and workers from the distributed and picked up recyclable bags that were filled by parade goers along the Uptown parade route on Sunday, March 3.

“It is my hope that incorporating recycling into Mardi Gras helps expand New Orleanians’ perceptions of what is possible when it comes to protecting and sustaining the environment,” said Kathryn, a volunteer and manger in Entergy’s ethics & compliance department.

Through this community partnership, volunteers walked 30 city blocks and collected 3.5 tons of Mardi Gras beads & throws and 7,000 cans & bottles following three parades. Check out the positive impact this volunteer initiative had on New Orleans’ environment in this infographic:

All plastic beads collected were donated to ArcGNO’s . Other recyclable materials collected were taken to local recycling facilities.

Learn more about Entergy’s commitment to the environment here.

In just one year, volunteers across the New Orleans community logged 347,290 service hours, resulting in an $8.5 million economic impact to the city. Entergy employees in the Greater New Orleans area volunteered more than 27,000 of those hours by giving back to their community in several ways, including feeding the homeless, beautifying local parks, tutoring students and rebuilding homes.

“There is no better way to mark the Tricentennial than by coming together as neighbors committed to building an even better, brighter and more equitable future for our great city,” said Patty Riddlebarger, Entergy’s vice president of corporate social responsibility. “���ϳԹ��� is proud to support the efforts of all of the nonprofit partners and volunteers who made this possible.”

In addition to employee volunteerism, Entergy awarded $1,000 grants to each of the more than 80 nonprofit partners participating in the yearlong challenge.

Entergy wishes to thank the New Orleans Tricentennial Commission, the and its Community Engagement Committee, , , and the thousands of volunteers for their service to our treasured city in 2018.

Here’s to commemorating the past 300 years of triumphs, challenges, resilience and unity in the Crescent City. Together, we are committed to creating and sustaining a healthy, vibrant New Orleans for the next 300 years.

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This carnival season, paradegoers will enjoy more recycling options thanks to several initiatives underway, some of which were an outcome of hosted by local organizations the and last fall.

“The forum brought 300 New Orleanians together to discuss ways to reduce the adverse environmental impact of Carnival season while growing the local economic impact,” says Dana Eness, Urban Conservancy’s director. “It encouraged New Orleanians to continue to share their ideas for more sustainable practices on and off of the parade route and launch initiatives that shift the focus away from trashing the city and toward uplifting more local, ethical, green traditions. This Carnival season, we’re seeing the results of connections made at the forum.”

“The success of each Carnival season has been traditionally measured by the tonnage of debris collected by the end of Mardi Gras Day, but it is clear from survey responses collected from forum attendees that the public is ready to measure our success using more sustainable metrics,” says Brett Davis, founder of Grounds Krewe, an organization focused on waste reduction at parades. “Fifty-six percent of survey respondents reported that their largest concern was reducing street garbage and increasing recycling during carnival season.”

“Supporting a recycling program that helps ensure the sustainability of an event like Mardi Gras, which is so closely associated with the city’s unique culture and appeal, fits well with our mission to add sustainable value to our communities and our commitment to protecting the environment.”��

–��Chuck Barlow, Entergy’s vice president of sustainability and environmental policy

Entergy is working with both organizations to support “on the route” recycling efforts this year. The Urban Conservancy and Grounds Krewe, in partnership with ���ϳԹ���, and will recycle throws, cans and bottles during Muses (following Babylon and Chaos) on February 28 and during the Uptown daytime parades on March 3 (Okeanos, Mid-City and Thoth).

“New Orleans is Entergy’s corporate home. Supporting a recycling program that helps ensure the sustainability of an event like Mardi Gras, which is so closely associated with the city’s unique culture and appeal, fits well with our mission to add sustainable value to our communities and our commitment to protecting the environment,” said Chuck Barlow, Entergy’s vice president of sustainability and environmental policy. “We appreciate the leadership of the Urban Conservancy and Grounds Krewe and can’t wait to help implement this important and inventive initiative.”

Interested in helping? ��You can also look for the recycling bag pictured at right and pitch in on the designated parade routes!

Learn more about Entergy’s commitment to the environment.

Featuring 50 units reserved for U.S. military veterans and low-income families in the Treme community of New Orleans, the St. Peter residential complex is estimated to achieve reliable, sustainable, zero-emission energy use. The housing development will feature highly efficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, lighting controls and appliances and will boast 450 solar panels and battery storage capable of supporting the building’s energy demands thanks in part to a $1 million partnership between Entergy and��.

“Affordable housing is one of the biggest challenges working families in our community face, and this is particularly true for veterans who have proudly served our country,” said David Ellis, Entergy New Orleans’ president and CEO, at a recent groundbreaking for the housing complex. “Entergy has a deep commitment to hiring veterans and helping military families. Our involvement in this project is a natural extension of that commitment. And the fact that this housing will be Louisiana’s first net-zero, multifamily housing complex was equally compelling.”

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, New Orleans ranks third in the country for the rent-to-income ratio, falling behind Miami and Ontario, California. Supporting��our ongoing commitments to eradicating poverty and sustaining the environment, Entergy is helping find solutions to these issues. By working with community partners like SBP, we are proud to help make more affordable, energy-efficient housing options available in the city.

Incorporating the latest technologies to maximize energy efficiency, the St. Peter housing complex will utilize solar panels provided by Entergy and supplemented solar generation from battery storage through upcycled hybrid batteries donated by Toyota Corporation, notably the first residential use of this technology. Also designed to encourage community engagement, the housing complex boasts the inclusion of a wellness center for yoga and meditation, a common room with kitchenette for both tenants and the public and a series of public/private outdoor spaces for socializing and community gardening.

St. Peter is scheduled to open to veteran, low-income, elderly and disabled residents in December 2019.

To learn more about Entergy’s philanthropic focus areas,��click here.

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Supporters and city officials, including David Ellis, president and CEO of Entergy New Orleans, break ground at St. Peter, a new affordable housing development geared toward military veterans in New Orleans on Jan. 16, 2019.

What started as an employee’s warm idea after seeing customers lined up outside in the early morning cold to pay their bills, has turned into an Entergy New Orleans holiday tradition bringing assistance to our neighbors who are struggling with year-end expenses. Since “Operation Secret Santa” began in 2014, Entergy New Orleans has provided more than $30,000 in utility bill-payment assistance to surprised customers through The Power to Care program. Now, they can focus more on family holiday traditions and less time worrying about how to pay their energy bill.

“Giving back to the communities we serve year-round is a big part of our company’s mission,” said David Ellis, Entergy New Orleans’ president and CEO. “And during the holidays, our efforts shift into high gear – from paying utility bills to providing gifts for low-income families to feeding the homeless. Operation Secret Santa has quickly become an employee favorite. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing the positive impact it has on our most vulnerable customers when money is tight during the holidays.”

to watch Entergy power bright spirits.

Continuing in the spirit of giving, Entergy employees also participated in the annual again this year, and will continue giving back to the New Orleans community at the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club’s annual on Saturday, Dec. 22.

Entergy New Orleans remains a sponsor of , an annual winter festival of lights in New Orleans City Park that features holiday decorations and displays for all ages, as well as , and other holiday events throughout the month of December.