While the outages in Texas made national news, many Louisiana customers were also left without power in the cold, but for a different reason than you may think. Louisiana conducted system-wide rolling blackouts in some parts of the grid in order to protect the larger system from failure – a practice known as “load shedding” – for the first time in almost two decades.
Though Louisiana customers haven’t experienced another load shed event since 2021, MISO, the grid operator that manages the power system from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border, did notably declare “conservative operations” from 12 AM Monday January 20 to midnight Wednesday January 22 in response to this week’s winter storm, “Enzo.”
“Conservative operations” simply means maintenance and other work on the system should temporarily stop and is a typical call in advance of extreme temperatures. Calling for conservative operations is one of a number of steps utilities can take before calling for a load shed event; and while we don’t expect to see the system fail, Louisianans should be prepared.
While we haven’t heard directly from all utilities in the state about how they intend to protect people in this cold, the good news is Entergy Louisiana, Entergy New Orleans, and Cleco have announced a suspension of disconnections for Enzo. We have not heard anything from SWEPCO regarding whether they are suspending disconnections.
Orleans Parish residents received text messages on Friday from Entergy New Orleans about the impending storm, offering reassurance that the company has crews ready to respond, and recommending people prepare for the cold. This proactive communication is no doubt the outcome of the fallout following mistakes in 2021 when thousands of New Orleanians lost power unnecessarily and without any warning. The Council directed their Advisors to investigate when Entergy was discovered to have “shed” three times as much load as they were required to in New Orleans.
That investigation resulted in a list of recommendations including communications improvements and standards for review. As Enzo dumps snow and ice across the region this year, we are hopeful that utilities have learned from the outages of 2021.
Because while some of the threats to the grid in cold weather–such as ice and high winds that might damage power lines and tree branches–require preparations and maintenance by the utilities, there are also ways that we, as customers and residents, can help keep the power on for everyone.
Back during the 2021 storm, in the days leading up to Mardi Gras, Entergy sent out text alerts requesting that people refrain from putting unnecessary strain on the system. For instance, by not running dishwashers or dryers, or even by turning down hot water heaters, customers can lower their energy costs while also protecting the system from overloading while people try to keep their homes warm and safe. This kind of “demand side” solution is a powerful one, and while Entergy sent text requests asking customers to reduce their energy use on the days leading up to Mardi Gras, they did not send any messages to residents on the day of the Fat Tuesday outages.
The Alliance believes that, empowered with good information, people would do their part to keep the heat and lights on for everyone in their community; we urge Louisiana’s utilities to communicate with their customers about how they can do their part while also keeping themselves safe in hazardous weather.
Insulation, for instance, is a resilience solution that works every day, year-round to keep people comfortable in their homes while also helping lower monthly bills. We will continue to urge the New Orleans City Council and Louisiana Public Service Commission to ensure that the benefits of weatherized, energy efficient, climate-ready homes are available to all Louisianans.