The New Orleans City Council unanimously approved the Neighborhood Power Plan - a $30 million proposal by Together New Orleans (TNO) and allies to strengthen the local power grid by installing solar batteries at over 1,600 homes, community facilities and businesses.

Funded with Entergy settlement dollars, the plan will not increase utility rates.

According to The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate, New Orleans Mayor Elect Helena Moreno called the endeavor "the largest single investment in community-led sustainability the city has ever made."

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As Mayor-elect Helena Moreno's transition ramps up, a coalition of community leaders are launching their own transition to hold the mayor-elect and other elected leaders accountable for the promises they made on the campaign trail.

The "People's Transition Team," an initiative of the nonprofit Together New Orleans, will focus on four issue areas identified by city residents the group surveyed — cost of living, public works, jobs and energy.

Twenty years after Hurricane Katrina, Together Louisiana's Community Lighthouse strategy is being recognized as a national model for disaster preparedness. Bloomberg News highlighted the initiative for "strengthening the capacity of local communities to respond to emergencies."

Hurricane Katrina was one of the most catastrophic storms in U.S. history, displacing millions and leaving many in oppressive heat without power or clean water. One of those displaced was Bianchi Hughes, who was just nine years old when she and her mother fled to Mississippi. They had to leave her father behind at a hospital that later flooded and permanently shut down after its generators failed.

Now, Hughes serves as a leader and the director of disaster relief with Together Louisiana. 

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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)

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...Members of the community are asking why a major New Orleans employer is asking for a tax exemption on years-old additions made to their facilities. The watchdog group Together New Orleans says Folgers Coffee Company, with two locations in New Orleans East, should owe the city millions in taxes on additions at their plants dating back to 2017.

It has people like Shawn Anglim, who helped create Morris Jeff Community School, concerned for the entities that could be receiving much-needed tax money during a pandemic.

“We are not really asking for much, we’re asking for Folgers to follow the law,” Anglim said.

The law Anglim mentioned, requires businesses like Folgers to pay taxes on personal property, machinery, equipment and merchandise.

Zurik: Watchdog, Community Members Say New Orleans Company Owes Millions on Years-Old Improvements, FOX 8 [pdf]

Relentless efforts by Together Louisiana resulted first in local media attention and then national media focus on the new storm brewing in New Orleans. 

New Orleans Faces a Virus Nightmare, and Mardi Gras May Be Why, New York Times [pdf]

New Orleans Has Some of the Highest Coronavirus Infection Rates in the US - Yet It's Overlooked, The Advocate 

Together Louisiana Press Conference (done online)

March 15th Infographic Demonstrating Outbreak in New Orleans, Together Louisiana 

How Early Intervention Can Save Lives, Together Louisiana

As the rate of coronavirus infection in Orleans Parish consistently outranked most other US counties, Together Louisiana raised an early alarm that the conversation about Covid-19 was overlooking New Orleans.  Weeks after Together LA leaders produced their own research, based on county-by-county analysis of cases per 1,000 people, local media responded and confirmed what leaders had been arguing for weeks.

One “metaphor we throw around every day is, this truck is moving faster and faster; it’s moving at different distances and different speeds in different places,” said Shawn Moses Anglim, pastor of First Grace United Methodist Church, and a leader with Together Louisiana.  “But in New Orleans, the truck is a block away, and it’s coming at 120 mph.”

For weeks, congregational leaders have been educating the public about how early precautionary measures can save lives months later.

[Photo Credit: David Grunsfeld, Times Picayune]

New Orleans Has Some of the Highest Coronavirus Infection Rates in the US - Yet It's Overlooked, The Advocate [pdf]  

March 15th Infographic Demonstrating Outbreak in New Orleans, Together Louisiana 

How Early Intervention Can Save Lives, Together Louisiana