NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans City Council voted unanimously on Dec. 18 to approve the Neighborhood Power Plan — a $30 million proposal by Together New Orleans and the Alliance for Affordable Energy to strengthen the local power grid with thousands of batteries at homes, community facilities and businesses.
Funded with Entergy settlement dollars, the plan will not increase utility rates. The $30 million allocation comes from a $116 million agreement, approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in Aug. 2024, that resolved longstanding regulatory disputes over cost and reliability issues tied to Entergy’s Grand Gulf Nuclear Station in Mississippi.
Virtual Power Plant
Over the next three years, the Neighborhood Power Plan positions New Orleans to build one of the most robust distributed energy resource programs in the country on a per capita basis — often referred to as a virtual power plant, or VPP. The program is designed to improve reliability, reduce outages and costs, and strengthen neighborhood backup power during extreme weather and other grid disruptions.
“The way this program came about is remarkable,” said VPP expert Arushi Sharma Frank, an architect of the proposal. “This entire docket was initiated by community organizations who led the analysis and the most important filings alongside subject matter experts from around the country. It’s a rare example of communities originating and guiding a major utility reform that is open access and effectively a public good.”
What the Council Passed
The Neighborhood Power Plan will install backup batteries tied to solar panels at about 1,500 homes and 150-250 community institutions across the city, creating the largest Virtual Power Plant in the Deep South.
The resolution directs the City to launch a three-year Distributed Energy Resources (DER) Program that includes:
- $28M in upfront incentives for installing solar-plus-battery systems
- $2M for program administration and implementation
- 40% of residential incentives reserved for low-to-moderate income households
- Equal investment in homes and community institutions
- Performance payments for households and institutions that dispatch power to support the grid
Together, these battery systems are intended to:
- Provide life-saving backup power for medically vulnerable residents and seniors
- Support resilience hubs at congregations, clinics, and neighborhood institutions
- Stabilize the grid by reducing peak demand and supporting faster recovery after storms and heat emergencies
The plan delivers immediate public safety benefits — and does so without raising rates.
A Plan Built by Community
The Neighborhood Power Plan is the result of years of organizing, led by Together New Orleans and the Alliance for Affordable Energy in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida. Community members with Together New Orleans, including leaders from churches, unions and civic institutions around the city, advocated to ensure the infrastructure would be funded entirely through Entergy settlement dollars, with no cost passed on to residents.
Over 100 leaders with Together New Orleans erupted in applause on Dec. 16 as the Council advanced the resolution to the final stage. “Today’s outcome proves that when residents organize around real solutions, City government can deliver,” said Sonya Norsworthy, Board President of Together New Orleans.
What Happens Next
Entergy New Orleans, the City Council, program advisors, and the third-party administrator will now begin developing the implementation plan. Installations will begin rolling out across neighborhoods in 2026.
“This is a historic step toward protecting lives in New Orleans,” said Nathalie Jordi of Together New Orleans. “Instead of waiting for the grid to fail again, the City is building neighborhood-level power that keeps people safe when it matters most.”
Community Lighthouse Project
Together New Orleans is a broad-based coalition of congregations, unions and civic institutions focused on developing practical solutions to the city’s most pressing challenges. The Neighborhood Power Plan builds on earlier resilience work led by the organization, including the Community Lighthouse Project, a nationally recognized network of solar-powered community resilience hubs.
In 2022, Together Louisiana and the Greater New Orleans Foundation launched the Community Lighthouse strategy, with additional partnership from the LSU School of Social Work, to establish a community-wide network of nonprofit resilience hubs powered by commercial-scale solar systems with backup battery capacity. The hubs are designed to provide assistance to surrounding neighborhoods during power outages caused by hurricanes and other disasters.
The Greater New Orleans Foundation supported the effort with a $1 million grant, serving as the lead investor in launching the strategy. The contribution was the foundation’s largest single grant from its Disaster Response and Restoration fund.
