The resolution will now go to the full Council for a final vote at their December 18 meeting.
The goal of the program is to help residents keep the lights on during the frequent outages we experience, and ultimately, once a sufficient number of batteries have been installed, to be able to aggregate excess electricity into a “virtual power plant” that can be dispatched quickly and flexibly to meet demand on the grid.
The program will provide upfront financial incentives to residents, restaurants, churches, and other community organizations to help cover the costs of installing battery storage systems on their homes and spaces. Such a program, already operating in places as remote as Vermont, would have numerous benefits not only for participating residents but for all ratepayers, including a more reliable and resilient grid, reduced need for new generation, reduced bills, and the bolstering of a local, green labor force.
“This program recognizes that resilience is about people, not just infrastructure,” said Jesse George, AAE’s New Orleans Policy Director. “We applaud the Council for taking this important step to boost resilience quickly and cost-effectively, while supporting community-based projects.”
The program was proposed by the Alliance for Affordable Energy (AAE) and Together New Orleans (TNO) in 2024. It builds on more than three years of work following Hurricane Ida and months of public discussion and stakeholder input through City Council docket UD-24-02. It is rooted in AAE’s advocacy for investments in distributed energy storage, dating back to 2018.
At the urging of AAE and TNO, the program will use ~$28 million in settlement funds—that the Council received in 2024 from Entergy New Orleans for its mismanagement of the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station —to offset costs, meaning there will be no bill increase.
“Facilities that already have solar, including those that participated in initiatives like Together New Orleans’ Community Lighthouse Project or the Krewe of Red Beans Get Lit, Stay Lit solar program, will now have a pathway to add battery storage to their system — strengthening their ability to keep the lights on and serve the community,” said George.
Throughout the process, AAE has urged the Council to ensure the program prioritizes low-income residents and medically vulnerable households, and the program approved today includes a carve-out that reflects that. Something AAE advocated for but was not included in the final program is requiring community organizations receiving funds to report back on how projects serve community needs, and to require annual readiness reporting ahead of storm season to ensure systems are operational when they are needed most.
The Alliance for Affordable Energy looks forward to working with the Council as the program moves toward implementation, and to working with community members and stakeholders to ensure the benefits of this investment are shared equitably across the city.
Contact: Emma Meyerkopf, Communication Manager, 504-229-4643, emma@all4energy.org
The resolution was approved by the full Council at their December 18 meeting.
1) Roll Call 2) Approval of the Minutes 3) Resolution establishing new battery storage program 4) Resolution initiating resilience reporting, including establishing pole metrics, resilience reports, & reporting metrics
