Ida Is Proof That Louisiana Needs To Embrace Building Microgrids
Last week, Hurricane Ida knocked out all 8 transmission lines into New Orleans. In Baton Rouge, it took out our communications along with our electricity — with the exception of those who had Verizon. Although most of Baton Rouge is getting back online, New Orleans as well as smaller towns and cities still don’t have power.
Someone shared an article by Canary Media with me, and after reading it, I fully agree. We need microgrids here in Louisiana, yet our leaders don’t seem to want them. Advocates have been trying for years to make our local grid resilient, but oddly, our leaders don’t seem to want that. Why?
This isn’t the first time I’ve seen governments (local, state, etc.) purposely refuse to do things that benefit everyone. It’s like they want us to have messed up grids so that we suffer during disasters. The article cited another article by Canary Media that showed the outcome following local authorities’ repeated dismissals of proposals to invest in decentralized and resilient grid upgrades.
In 2016, a New Orleans-based nonprofit, Alliance for Affordable Energy, had a great alternative to Entergy New Orleans’ plan to build a new natural-gas-fired power plant. That idea was to build clean electricity resilience from the ground up — an integrated resilience plan that challenged Entergy New Orleans to try to find an alternative to a central power plant. The plant would be subject to known vulnerabilities — such as the impact of a category 4 hurricane.
The Alliance for Affordable Energy called for pursuing distributed microgrids. The article aptly described these as self-powered islands of solar power, batteries, and backup generation that could provide electricity during grid outages. If only we had these during Ida. Executive director Logan Atkinson Burke shared how this was frustrating. “Had we taken the time and initiative to plan for distributed generation, distributed solar-plus-storage, and more energy efficiency, people would be more prepared to shelter safely and comfortably,” Burke said. “We’ve been advocating for microgrids to be built within the city for years for precisely this reason.”
Here’s Why Entergy Doesn’t Want Distributed Energy
The problem is Entergy’s long-standing opposition to distributed energy. The utility has consistently opposed including local renewable energy and energy storage in its own plans. Utilities also get an incentive when they convince regulators to approve large power plants instead of enabling customer-sited distributed energy such as rooftop solar. The article pointed out that vertically integrated utilities such as Entergy are paid a guaranteed rate of return on capital investments, including power plants. Self-supplied customer energy reduces the revenue and profits Entergy and other utilities earn from selling electricity.
It’s all about money, profits, and greed. They make more money from weakening our defenses against disasters such as Ida than they would from strengthening them. And we, the people, end up paying the price. And our government readily caters to this greed. Not just Louisiana’s — this trend is seen elsewhere as well.
Car dealerships in Connecticut, for example, lobby legislatures to prevent Tesla and Rivian from coming to their state and opening a sales center. This hurts the economy, but they do it anyway. It’s all about greed, money, and profits.
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The US Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $1.2 billion in financing to replace Puerto Rico’s fossil fuel plants with solar and battery storage through 2032.
The DOE’s Loan Programs Office announced two conditional commitments and one loan closing to power producers in Puerto Rico. Each supports a project contracted with the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority. The announcements include:
- The closing of a $584.5 million loan guarantee to subsidiaries of Convergent Energy to finance a 100 MW solar farm with a 55 MW (55 MWh) battery energy storage system (BESS) in the municipality of Coamo and BESS installations in the municipalities of Caguas (25MW/100MWh), Peñuelas (100MW/400MWh), and Ponce (up to 100MW/400MWh)
- A conditional commitment for a loan guarantee of up to $133.6 million to a subsidiary of Infinigen for a 32.1 MW solar farm with an integrated 14.45 MW (4.76 MWh) BESS, and a co-located standalone 50 MW (200 MWh) BESS expansion in the municipality of Yabucoa
- A conditional commitment for a loan guarantee of up to $489.4 million to a subsidiary of Pattern Energy for three stand-alone BESS in the municipalities of Arecibo (50 MW/200 MWh), and Santa Isabel (50 MW /200 MWh and 80 MW/320 MW), and a 70 MW solar farm with an integrated BESS in the municipality of Arecibo.
If all are finalized, these projects would more than double LPO’s support for utility-scale solar generation and battery energy storage in Puerto Rico.
LPO provides low-cost financing and a rigorous due diligence process, making it a valuable resource for Puerto Rico as it works to rebuild an affordable, reliable, and clean energy system. As a result of reliance on imported fuel, the persistent threat of tropical storms, and underinvested infrastructure, Puerto Ricans today face average energy costs that are twice the US average – all while consuming only one-quarter of the energy of the US per capita.
LPO’s initial loan to a power producer in Puerto Rico, Project Marahu, closed in October 2024, and when complete will add more than 200 MW of solar and up to 285 MW of stand-alone energy storage to Puerto Rico’s grid.
Through its September 2023 partial loan guarantee to Project Hestia, LPO also supports virtual power plant (VPP)-ready rooftop solar and battery storage installations in Puerto Rico. As a nationwide project, Hestia’s sponsor is committed to at least 20% of installations under Project Hestia going to homeowners in Puerto Rico.
As part of its procurement plan, Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority seeks to install 1,500 MW of battery storage and requires a minimum capacity of storage to be co-located with each utility-scale solar project. Energy storage systems currently online in Puerto Rico are being dispatched every day.
When including Marahu, LPO’s closed and conditionally committed financing supports over 100% of the capacity Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority aimed to procure under its initial request for energy storage project proposals, the first of six.
Read more: Cleantech investments to top fossil fuels for the first time in 2025
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Chevy just introduced new deals on the Equinox and Blazer EV models to make them even more affordable. With 0% interest and a new trade-in bonus, Chevy is offering over $5,000 in savings.
Chevy adds new Equinox and Blazer EV deals in January
Although the Chevy Equinox EV is already “the most affordable” EV in its class with over 315 miles range, it’s getting even cheaper.
Earlier this week, Chevy launched new deals on the 2024 Equinox and Blazer EV models. According to a note sent to dealers, viewed by CarsDirect, the electric SUVs are now available with 0% APR financing for 60 months. You can also choose from 0.9% AP for 72 months and 2.9% APR for 84 months.
This marks the best financing offer on Chevy’s newest EVs to date. The previous best rates were 0.9% APR for 60 months, 3.9% for 72 months, and 5.9% for the longer 84-month option.
On a 7-year $45,000 loan, online auto research firm CarsDirect estimates the new deals amount to around a $5,200 price cut. The lower APR rates are already offered on the Chevrolet Silverado EV pickup.
In addition, Chevy is offering a trade-in bonus of up to $3,000 on the Silverado EV and $1,000 on the electric Equinox and Blazer models. If you choose to lease, the bonus is cut in half: $1,500 for the Silverado and $500 for the electric SUVs.
Chevy’s new EV deals started on January 14 and run through March 3, 2025. The deals come as rivals like Hyundai and Ford recently launched new EV promotions.
On Thursday, Hyundai launched a new promo on the upgraded 2025 IONIQ 5, which includes monthly leases as low as $199 and a free ChargePoint home EV charger (or $400 charging credit). Meanwhile, Ford extended its “Power Promise” program earlier this month, which also includes a free home charger, among several other benefits.
The 2024 Chevy Equinox EV started at $41,900 with up to 315 miles range. Prices for the electric Chevy Blazer start at $43,690 with up to 279 miles range.
If you are ready to try out Chevy’s new electric SUVs for yourself, we’ve got you covered. You can use our links below to view offers on the Chevy Equinox, Silverado, and Blazer EV models near you.
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In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss non-Tesla EVs getting Supercharger access, Cybertruck sales in the spotlight, Rivian getting some money from Biden, and more.
The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel.
As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.
After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:
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Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast:
Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 4:00 p.m. ET (or the video after 5 p.m. ET):
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