"Proponents of renewable energy see a better way to keep power through storms expected to get stronger: make energy generation much more community-based."
"Power went out in my New Orleans apartment on Saturday, August 28—the day before Category 4 Hurricane Ida crashed into Port Fourchon on Louisiana’s southern coast, 100 miles away. By Sunday night, more than a million Louisiana households and businesses were without electricity, and the entire city of New Orleans was plunged into darkness. Another 104,000 lacked power in Mississippi. On Monday, residents awoke to “feels like” temperatures that rose into the triple digits without air conditioning, fans, ice, or for many, water.
Tens of thousands of electricity workers from 40 states, with the support of the federal government, fanned out across Mississippi and Louisiana. By September 6, Mississippi’s power had been restored, though the same was true for less than half of those who had lost power in Louisiana, including just 64 percent of New Orleans. The hardest hit areas in Louisiana’s lower southeast could remain dark for weeks yet.
Last Friday, with many homes and entire communities destroyed and still underwater, the area’s largest utility company, Entergy, expressed sympathy for the plight of those still without electricity and reminded customers to avoid “incurring late fees or experiencing service disruption” by paying bills on time and online."
Antonia Juhasz reports for National Geographic September 8, 2021 with photographs By Annie Flanagan.
SEE ALSO:
"Grid Experts Grapple With ‘Resilience’ In Ida’s Wake" (E&E News)
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