NEW ORLEANS — Down here in Southeast Louisiana August 29th means something. It marks the day two catastrophic hurricanes, Katrina and Rita, hit the Gulf Coast. The work to build back better and stronger continues, especially on the Entergy front.
Ida crippled the Entergy power grid. The storm shredded power poles and transmission lines that left upwards of 1 million people in the dark for days, weeks, and even months in some cases. Councilman Joe Giarrousso was one of those people.
"Oh yeah I was without power it's not fun," he said. "I remember being in our attic, it was incredibly hot upstairs. Then of course your hat changes to being a citizen then to an elected official. My phone blew up."
Giarrousso says after that, collective anxiety spread as hours turned into weeks without power. About a month later, most power was restored, with ongoing efforts by Entergy New Orleans to make repairs and improvements to the grid, with a $1 billion plan called Operation Grid Iron.
The New Orleans City Council, which oversees the utility, did approve just over $100 million of that plan.
In a statement an Entergy spokesperson said, "We’ve continuously improved our design standards, and we’re now upgrading a significant amount of infrastructure in South Louisiana, particularly below Interstate 10, to withstand winds of up to 150 mph."
"This reflects the reality that storms are becoming stronger and more frequent. We’re accelerating our grid-hardening efforts to not only ensure our electric system is more reliable and resilient but also to help our communities recover and return to normalcy more quickly following major storms like Hurricanes Katrina and Ida."
Giarrousso said, "When it comes to the grid hardening and resiliency a lot more needs to be done."
Jesse George with the Alliance for Affordable Energy said, "Well I think Ida really demonstrated Entergy hadn't done much in terms of resiliency since Katrina."
To that, an Entergy spokesperson said, "We’re proud of the progress we’ve made in strengthening our power grid over the years. We know what works because we’ve seen it work. For instance, following Hurricane Ida, a newer transmission line that runs south along Louisiana Highway 1 largely withstood the storm’s historic winds. Only a few structures were damaged, and those were due to breakaway barges hitting our infrastructure, not high winds."
As a watchdog for the utility, George said the money Entergy has collected from rate hikes has not been used properly and when it comes to hardening the grid, he says the company has a narrow view.
George said, "We really need to be looking at a range of options, including on the customer side of the meter, like energy efficiency and renewable resources that give them more robust resilience than just hardening distribution infrastructure."
He also says the council is moving in the right direction but could do more.
"The problem is that the standards are too low, and Entergy has been in compliance every year that they have been in effect," said George.
"My view is that we have been very aggressive," said Giarrousso.
Giarrousso said it's a delicate balance between resiliency and reliability while not overwhelming ratepayers.
An Entergy spokesperson said, "Our goal has always been to provide reliable and affordable power. To achieve that, we must be strategic in how we invest in the power grid, especially considering the economic hardships many of our customers in Louisiana face. It’s a difficult balance to strike, but we’re committed to keeping the lights on at reasonable costs. Ultimately, we want to minimize the cost impact while maximizing the grid's strength."
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