The “solar cavalry” is coming to the rescue in New Orleans

Utility workers are slowly bringing electricity back to Louisiana and Mississippi after Hurricane Ida wiped out much of the region’s power grid in the dawn hours of Aug. 30. But much of the region remains in the dark: 843,000 homes and businesses were without power as of the evening of Sept. 1, only about 11% less than immediately after the storm.

The meager progress so far is attributable to the restarting of a new natural gas-fired power plant in New Orleans which began operating in March 2020. It was designed as a backstop when a storm like this cut the city off from the regional power grid. Although offline for two days after Ida, the power plant is now a few thousand utility customers in the city. But for those in New Orleans across the region reliant on the thousands of power transmission poles knocked down by the storm, full restoration of electricity could take weeks or longer.

In the meantime, some New Orleans residents and first responders will have access to trailers to power their phones, computers, medical devices, refrigerators, and other essentials—with solar energy.

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