[Excerpt]

Beating drums and ringing bells, dozens of advocates and religious leaders gathered on the steps of New Orleans City Hall Thursday to urge local officials and Entergy to quickly move forward on a "virtual power plant" plan for backup clean energy during outages and hurricanes.

Together New Orleans (TNO) and the Alliance for Affordable Energy say the plan is crucial to equip the city for disasters and outages, while also lowering electricity costs and providing more clean energy. The nonprofits criticized Entergy New Orleans for not installing “microgrids” around the city that can power facilities when the traditional grid fails, while the advocacy groups have built out a network.

The advocacy groups want to supply batteries for up to 1,500 solar-equipped homes and over 100 facilities – such as shelters and hospitals – over a three-year period using $32 million of Entergy settlement funds.

“We are here today to create a sense of urgency for our city council and our utility system to act to better protect the citizens of this city during the growing dangers of outages,” said Shawn Anglim, a pastor and leader with TNO. 

(Photo Credit: Brett Duke, The Times-Picayune)

New Orleans Advocates Urge Approval of 'Virtual Power Plant' over Entergy Resilience Proposal, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate [pdf]

Solar-Powered 'Lighthouses' Stayed Lit for Hurricane Francine.  What Does It Mean for Bigger Storms?, Times-Picayune [pdf]

Holy Family Sisters Plan 22-Acre Community Solar Project in Louisiana, Earthbeat (a project of the National Catholic Reporter) [pdf]