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TOGETHER LA CELEBRATES LOUISIANA’S BIG WIN ON GRID RESILIENCE
State’s proposal includes statewide expansion of Together Louisiana’s Community Lighthouse strategy
Louisiana’s $249 million award is 3rd highest among 58 funded projects. With separate award for Entergy proposal, Louisiana receives 2nd highest total of funds in intensely competitive process
Baton Rouge, La. (Oct. 18, 2023) – Together Louisiana, a coalition of more than 250 institutions representing more than 200,000 people, is celebrating a $249 million federal investment in Louisiana to strengthen grid resilience, announced by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today. The funded will be matched by $249 million in locally raised funding.
Louisiana’s award was the third-largest among those announced by the DOE today, out of fifty-eight projects that won federal support. Entergy New Orleans won a separate grant for $50 million, bringing Louisiana’s total funding announced today to $299 million — the 2nd highest haul for a state, behind Minnesota.
Louisiana’s proposal includes a major expansion of Together Louisiana’s Community Lighthouse strategy, to build solar and storage resilience hubs in every neighborhood, which provide critical services to residents during disasters and extended power outages.
Power outages have emerged as the leading cause of death from disaster in Louisiana and across the Gulf South, responsible for most of the deaths after Hurricanes Laura and Ida in 2020 and 2021. This summer in northwest Louisiana, hundreds of thousands of people suffered in sweltering heat after a storm knocked out power for over a week.
The federal funds are part of the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program. DOE selected a collaborative, known as Hubs for Resilient Energy Operations (HERO), for award negotiations.
Beyond disaster recovery, the HERO project aims to create 875 new graduates of workforce training, pre-apprentice, and apprenticeship programs by 2030. In addition, it will include workforce development and apprenticeship programs within the contracting solicitations and awards.
Prior to the announcement, Together Louisiana’s regional organizations have been advancing Community Lighthouses throughout the state. Together New Orleans opened the first four as part of its pilot of 16 lighthouses. It plans to create a network of 86. North Louisiana Interfaith is piloting two lighthouses and plans to create a network of 20 in Caddo Parish. Together Baton Rouge has secured funding for its first three lighthouses and is raising funds for the next three. Other regions throughout the state are also working to launch pilot programs in the near term. The DEO investment will supercharge these efforts and enable a rapid, major expansion of resilience hubs throughout Louisiana.
About Hubs for Resilient Energy Operations (HERO)
HERO is a collaborative that includes the Louisiana State Energy Office, Louisiana Public Service Commission, Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, Center for Planning Excellence, City of New Orleans, CLECO Power, Entergy Louisiana, Entergy New Orleans, NextGen Energy Partners, Southwestern Electric Power Company, Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government, The Accelerate Group, Together Louisiana, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and Xavier University of Louisiana.
About Together Louisiana
Together Louisiana, a statewide network of more than 250 religious congregations and civic organizations across Louisiana, representing more than 200,000 people. It is one of the largest grassroots organizations in the history of Louisiana.
The mission of Together Louisiana is to give faith and community-based organizations an opportunity to develop the leadership capacity of their members and affect change on a larger scale than they could alone.
Together Louisiana is currently working on issues that include tax fairness, access to healthcare, flood recovery, access to healthy food, workforce development, criminal justice reform and improving infrastructure and transportation.
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Links:
- Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships Program
- About the Grid Deployment Office
- NOLA.com: Two New Orleans neighborhoods get solar-powered shelters for when electricity fails
