In the aftermath of Hurricane Ida in 2021, the New Orleans City Council resolved to improve grid reliability and strengthen the area against extreme weather events. This effort is becoming a reality, as a council committee approved a plan to install hundreds of solar-tied batteries throughout the city, according to a Dec. 16 press release from the City of New Orleans.
A vote by the full city council on Dec. 18 finalized approval for the plan, as Energy Storage News later confirmed.
The initiative is New Orleans' first Distributed Energy Resource (DER) Program, a groundbreaking plan that invests in grid reliability without imposing additional costs on customers. In total, DER is investing $28 million in community-centered grid reliability, funds that the city received from a $116 million settlement between Entergy New Orleans and the City Council, per NOLA.com.
"This is transformative," Mayor-Elect Helena Moreno said in a statement, according to NOLA.com. By installing solar-connected battery systems in homes, businesses, and public spaces, New Orleans will be able to store clean energy that can be used during power outages.
Moreno also noted how the program incorporated lessons learned after Hurricane Ida. After Ida hit the New Orleans area, more than one million people lost power, according to reports by In These Times. As the city slowly recovered, the council focused on improving climate resilience by strengthening grid reliability. One of the best ways to protect communities from outages is by adding battery storage.
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For homeowners looking to protect their households from future storms like Hurricane Ida, EnergySage offers free resources that explain battery storage options and break down competitive installation estimates. EnergySage works with Qmerit, an electrification company, so that they can ensure that you get the best price on your home battery storage option.
There are also tools for residential solar panel installations that can be combined with battery storage — as is happening in New Orleans — to save even more on energy bills and help protect homes from power losses.
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"By placing hundreds of batteries across the city, we are strengthening resiliency, expanding access to clean energy, and building real backstops for families and small businesses during outages and emergencies without putting new costs on ratepayers," Mayor-Elect Helena Moreno said in the city press release. "This is the largest single investment in community-led sustainability New Orleans has ever made, and it reflects how the modern grid has changed and how we must change with it."
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