The only city council in the country doing this
Entergy New Orleans is regulated by the New Orleans City Council. New Orleans is the only city council in the United States besides the District of Columbia with separate regulatory authority over its electric and gas utilities.
That is a historical arrangement rather than a technicality, and it means solar rules for New Orleans are set by the Council rather than by the Louisiana Public Service Commission.
The Council rules require Entergy New Orleans to offer net metering to customers generating with solar, wind, hydropower, geothermal or biomass.
And critically, the Commission rules effective January 1, 2020, which moved the rest of the state to avoided-cost export compensation, do not apply to Entergy New Orleans customers.
What that is worth against the rest of the state
Outside New Orleans, a customer who installed or applied after December 31, 2019 receives avoided-cost compensation for exported electricity, which has run near 3 cents per kWh against a Louisiana retail average around 12 cents.
So an exported kilowatt hour in Baton Rouge has been worth roughly a quarter of one consumed at home. In New Orleans, under net metering, the two are far closer in value.
That changes system design as well as system value. Where exports are credited well, a system sized to annual consumption behaves sensibly; where they are not, the design has to chase self-consumption.
It also means a New Orleans quote prepared from a statewide template will understate the project, which is an unusual direction for a quote error and worth catching because it makes a good project look ordinary.
A structural change that has been raised
The regulatory arrangement is not guaranteed forever. A proposal has been raised to move Entergy New Orleans customers from City Council oversight to the Louisiana Public Service Commission.
If that happened, the terms New Orleans customers receive could change to match the rest of the state, which would be a substantial reduction in export compensation.
That is a reason to confirm the current position with Entergy New Orleans or the Council rather than relying on a guide, and to ask what a long projection assumes about it.
It is also a reason to ask whether existing customers would be grandfathered under any change. That answer, if it exists, determines how much the uncertainty matters, and it should come from the regulator rather than from a sales conversation.
What is left to build the number from
The 30 percent federal Residential Clean Energy Credit under Section 25D expired for property placed in service after December 31, 2025, and Louisiana state solar tax credit expired on December 31, 2017, so there is no tax credit at either level for a cash or loan purchase.
Section 48E survives at 30 percent for third-party owners under leases and power purchase agreements, so ask what a provider claims and what reaches you in the rate.
What exists is the net metering arrangement the City Council requires, the property tax exemption on the value the system adds, and the electricity you stop buying at around 12 cents per kWh.
Confirm the current net metering terms with Entergy New Orleans directly, and ask what the projection assumes if regulatory oversight changes.