NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board now creates most of the electricity it needs to drain the city and distribute clean water.
It does so with steam and combustion turbine generators, some of which are more than 100 years old.
“Obviously, the goal is to replace all of our old turbines, that have been, that have served the city very well, but their time has come,” SWBNO Executive Director Ghassan Korban said.
Monday, city leaders gathered to break ground on a modern electrical substation on the grounds of the board’s Carrollton Water Plant.
It would replace the outdated turbines now prone to failure.
“This project will bring reliability, durability, efficiency, and much-needed redundancy,” Korban said. “We all know what that means in our city.”
What it hopefully means for the city is fewer flooding events and boil water advisories, that come when the Sewerage and Water Board doesn’t have enough electricity to power its pumps.
“This is something that we’ve needed for decades,” Mayor LaToya Cantrell said. “But it’s also something that we will be able to look back on and see that it truly did transform the city of New Orleans for generations.”
Entergy New Orleans will operate what’s being called the West Power Complex.
ENO President Deanna Rodriguez admitted the partnership with the city and water board has been bumpy at times.
Last year, Entergy backed out of its $30 million commitment to the project.
“Ida happened and that created a very different economic environment, not just for our customers, but for the company as well,” Rodriguez said.
The estimated $300 million price tag on the substation will now be funded by a mix of local, state, and federal dollars.
“We’re hoping to get the substation, working with Entergy by the end of next year and our piece of the equipment will be in line, either at the same time or a little behind,” Korban said.
If all goes as planned, the West Power Complex should be up and running by mid-2024.
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