Climate Change and Sustainability Committee Meeting – August 26, 2026
Climate Change and Sustainability Committee Meeting – August 26, 2026
The New Orleans City Council's Climate Change and Sustainability Committee convened on August 26, 2026, to approve routine items, vote on two Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) resolutions, receive a detailed briefing from Entergy New Orleans on the August 21–22 widespread power outages, and hear an update on the Uptown Railroad Quiet Zone. The committee unanimously approved the March 11, 2026 minutes and both IRP-related resolutions. Public testimony focused on communication failures during the outage and grid reliability concerns.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes (March 11, 2026): Motion by Councilmember Aimee McCarron, seconded by Councilmember JP Morrell. Passed 3–0 (McCarron, Morrell, Harris).
- Resolution – Integrated Resource Plan Rulemaking (UD-26-01): Motion by McCarron, seconded by Councilmember Lesli D. Harris. Passed 3–0. The resolution revises IRP rules to ensure distributed energy resources (DERs) such as customer-side generation, battery storage, and demand response are fairly evaluated in the 2027 IRP.
- Resolution – 2027 Integrated Resource Plan Initiating Resolution (UD-26-02): Motion by McCarron, seconded by Morrell. Passed 5–0 (McCarron, Morrell, Matthew Willard, Harris, Eugene J. Green). The resolution establishes a procedural schedule for the 2027 IRP with multiple public and technical meetings.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Ladwina Hearst (Algiers resident): Expressed frustration that she was signed up for text alerts but received no notification or was told there was no outage for 10–11 hours after reporting her outage. Called the communication unacceptable for seniors and those with medical needs.
- David Wadley: Stated that Entergy’s outage maps have never accurately reflected his outages in 20 years. Criticized the company for treating repeated data glitches as isolated incidents and urged better coordination with local emergency resources.
- Mary Loden: Asked for Entergy to inspect a power pole in her backyard that is cracked and pulling lines; reported it three years ago.
- Zachary Stein (Broadmoor): Questioned the “major event day” regulation, arguing it may disincentivize fast response because outages excluded from reliability scores. Noted Entergy announced $250 million in dividends and urged investment in resiliency.
- Lizzie Pitts (Uptown): Described frequent power outages unrelated to storms, including a transformer explosion during calm weather. Challenged Entergy’s self-congratulation on storm performance. Called for compensation for food and medication loss, and pointed out that not all residents have smartphones for the app.
- Dr. Alexis Myers (Mid City): Asked about proactive vegetation management using aerial/satellite imagery, smart meters for real-time outage detection, and coordinated tree maintenance between Entergy and Parks & Parkways.
Discussion Items
- Entergy New Orleans Power Outage Presentation (August 21–22, 2026): Entergy President Deanna Rodriguez, Vice President Sharonda Williams, Reliability VP Dan Calamari, and Customer Service Manager Jessica Williams presented. Key details:
- A severe thunderstorm with gusts up to 68 mph caused approximately 14,600 customer interruptions, peaking at 9,700 simultaneous outages. 144 resources (linemen and contractors) were called in. Restoration times varied: most within hours, but some in Algiers lasted over 28 hours.
- Damage was mainly from tree contact (mostly on private property) and lightning. Detailed district-by-district restoration timelines were provided.
- A software glitch caused inaccurate outage notifications in Algiers: some customers did not receive any update for up to 11 hours, and others were told there was no outage. Entergy apologized and said they are working with the software vendor; a message update now says “Thank you for notifying us” instead of “no outage.”
- Councilmembers questioned reliability investments, vegetation management, replacement standards (hardened poles), and the “major event day” classification. Councilmember McCarron advocated for compensating customers for outages over four hours, noting businesses like Trader Joe’s lost food. Councilmember Willard asked about replacing damaged poles with resilient standards. Councilmember Harris requested assurance on communication fixes. Councilmember Green sought explanation for extended outages in St. Rock (4 a.m. due to broken jumper and additional damage). Councilmember King asked about resource allocation and feeder switching in Algiers.
- Uptown Railroad Quiet Zone Update: Andrew Tuzolo from the Law Department reported that the Cooperative Endeavor Agreement (CEA) with the Port of New Orleans has been stalled for 198 days after the city completed its review. The port sent a redlined CEA on the morning of August 26, 2026. There is a $20,000 cost increase requiring port board approval in September. Councilmember McCarron stressed urgency and will attend the port board meeting if needed. Councilmember King noted similar quiet zone needs in District C. The committee committed to pressing the port for finalization.
Key Outcomes
- Votes: All three consent items (minutes, UD-26-01, UD-26-02) passed unanimously.
- Directives: Entergy will continue to analyze the notification glitch and report back; council members will pursue customer compensation mechanisms in the reliability docket. The committee will monitor the quiet zone CEA signing by the port.
- Next Steps: The 2027 IRP process is formally initiated with public meetings to be scheduled. The port is expected to approve the revised CEA in September 2026. Entergy will provide additional updates on vegetation management and grid hardening progress.
Meeting Transcript
Council Member Royal Council Member King. Council Member Harris. Council Member McCarron. Here. We have a quarrel. All right. Thank you, members. Um, I will go ahead and approve the uh minutes of March eleventh, twenty twenty-six climate change meeting. Can I get a motion? Seconded by Council Member Harris, all those in favor. This is a resolution for the integrated resource plan rulemaking utility docket 2601. The integrated resource plan IRP rulemaking resolution is about modernizing or up and updating the council's integrated resource plan rules to reflect how the electric system is changing. The council's existing IRP rules were adopted in 2017. However, since then, the types and capabilities of distributed energy resources, or DERs, have evolved significantly, including customer sided generation, battery storage storage, demand response, distributed generation, and other technologies capable of supplying or modifying electrical demand. The objective of the IRP rulemaking resolution is to make sure the council's IRP planning process is not overlooked resources that can potentially serve customers, reduce system costs, improve reliability, or provide alternatives to traditional utility infrastructure. As such, the adoption of this resolution is essential to ensuring our 2027 IRP evaluates all of those distributed energy resources fairly and comprehensively. Are there any questions or comments? Anybody? Okay, I will move to approve. Second of my councilmember Harris, all those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Great. Okay, the second item we have item number four. This is the resolution to actually initiate the plan. This this committee, uh, we will we're considering a relation resolution to establish the procedural schedule for the 2027 um integrated resource plan. So this one will formally begin the council's triannual uh process through which the council evaluates how entergy New Orleans ENO should plan to meet the city's future electricity needs while considering cost, reliability, resilience, environmental impacts, and customer interests. The 2027 IRP emphasizes transparency and meaningful public participation, as well as establishes multiple technical and public meetings throughout the process, including opportunities for the public to learn about the IRP, ask questions, and provide comments on the record. Um this is about making sure New Orleans plans for its energy futures deliberately and transparently. We certainly want an electric system that is reliable and resilient, but also one that appropriately considers energy efficiency, renewable resources, distributed energy resources, and the needs of our customers. This process gives the council stakeholders stakeholders and public an option to rigorously evaluate entergy New Orleans resource choices before decisions are made about the city's energy future. Any questions? Okay, I will move. Second. All those in favor? Any opposed? Okay, perfect. Okay, next up we have uh agenda item five, entergy New Orleans. Um provide an update on the widespread power outages that occurred across the city uh August 21st and 22nd. While you all are coming up to the table, I just have a few opening comments. Um thank you all for being here, obviously, and thank you. I see some members of the community out here. Um, to discuss the outages from Friday's thunderstorms. Um as regulators, we don't just represent our districts, we represent the entire city. So whether an outage occurs in my district in District A or in Algiers, uh we all share in the responsibility to ask the questions in a transparent way and hold the utility accountable. Last Friday, we had a severe thunderstorm event, and at its peak left 14,600 customers without power. Many for over four hours, and many in Algiers for over 28 hours. While this storm was intense, it was not unusual to our climate here. And we can and something that we can expect due to climate change that these storms and other extreme weather will continue to be a normal occurrence. Fair weather outages, severe outages like this continue to happen.
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