NEW ORLEANS - Today, Council President and Utilities Committee Chair Helena Moreno announced the pending addition of 90MW of renewable solar generation to the City's generation portfolio, representing an increase of over 20 times the current capacity and including the construction of a 20MW grid-scale solar plant in New Orleans East (NOE) on 200 acres of the flood-protected NASA Michoud property.
Estimates indicate that this would mean almost 10% of New Orleans power needs could be produced by renewables on a given day - 20 times more than today, and a tremendous step towards meeting our goal of at least 100MW of renewable generation by 2021. The yet-to-be-named NOE solar plant would create up to 537 local construction and operational jobs as well.
"This is nothing less than a transformational moment for the City of New Orleans," said Utilities Chair Moreno. "It's a win on all counts: these new resources help us massively decarbonize our power sector while providing cheap, renewable, and local power sources. If anything, this past week again reminds us we are in fact, a coastal city with a vulnerable population on the very front lines of climate change. Therefore, we must take bold steps to address the crisis head-on. Our action must be smart, equitable, and inclusive to ensure all benefit, and no one is left behind. While we have more work to do, this is a huge step forward."
"This is a huge step towards a smarter city with a more environmentally friendly and reliable blend of energy sources," said Councilmember-At-Large Jason Williams. "With this agreement, the City Council continues our work toward significantly expanding our renewables portfolio while decreasing our carbon footprint in a meaningful way. I stand with our Chair in collective commitment to be aggressive and aspirational in pursuit of unprecedented renewables access. The inclusion of 90 megawatts of solar generation and our ongoing efforts, through Smart and Sustainable Cities, to significantly modernize our electrical grid will pay dividends for our constituents in the near future."
"This is an exciting step as New Orleans positions itself as a leader in renewable energy policy. These resources remind us that clean energy is affordable and resilient energy. A deep transformation of our energy system away from fossil fuels is vital to protect our city, and we are glad this Council has responded to community members who are insisting on real climate action," said Logan Atkinson Burke, Executive Director of Alliance for Affordable Energy.
"We are in a climate crisis. Scientists are warning us that our world will soon see societies collapse, unless we rapidly implement drastic changes. We have to achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions with great speed, at the latest by 2040. The 90 MW solar project for New Orleans is one great first step in the right direction with many more that have to follow," said Renate Heurich, spokesperson for 350 New Orleans.
"This represents another impressive milestone for the Council in its balanced and unwavering effort to dramatically reduce carbon emissions while ensuring affordability and reliability," said Clint Vince, Chair of Dentons' U.S. Energy Practice and Council Legal Advisor. "We are grateful for the constructive efforts of all of the involved stakeholders in supporting this exceptional outcome."
"We care about our environment and our communities. In this effort, we've offered a portfolio that balances environmental responsibility and affordability. The City Council's approval of our proposed 90MW solar plan will make New Orleans a national leader. Entergy New Orleans is already among the cleanest utilities in the U.S., and the approval of our 90 MW renewable plan will be integral in our continued fight against climate change with all resources available while maintaining the lowest rates possible for our customers," said David Ellis, President and CEO of Entergy New Orleans.
Critically, the new resources contemplated in this pending docket (UD-06) are expected to cost the average residential ratepayer no more than a dollar and a half ($1.50) per month on their bill or just about $17 a year. This additional win on equity is thanks to the hard, cooperative work of the Council, its technical and legal teams, the interveners, and Entergy New Orleans. Over $10 million of potential costs were reduced from the New Orleans project alone. In addition to the 20MW from the NOE solar resource, the docket filing also contemplates two separate power purchase agreements (PPAs) totaling 70MW with solar plants in Washington and St. James Parishes.
All of these new resources are expected to be online by the end of 2020.
The proposed docket filing will be considered at Wednesday's Utilities Committee meeting.
###
Media Contact:
Andrew Tuozzolo
Chief of Staff
Office of Councilmember-at-Large Helena Moreno
AVTuozzolo@nola.gov
(504) 281-9882