Joint Utility, Cable, Telecommunications and Technology and Public Works, Sanitation and Environment Committee.

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Energy Hurricane Preparedness Presentation — Dan Calamari

Energy Hurricane Preparedness Presentation — Jessica Williams

Entergy Reliability — North Kenilworth and French Quarter Resilience Update

North Kenilworth Customer Engagement and Outreach

Sewage and Water Board — Hurricane Preparedness and After-Action Discussion

Reliability Resolution Amendment — Feeder-Level Reporting

Electric Formula Rate Plan Rider Extension — Resolution

Dan Calamari (Director of Reliability, Entergy New Orleans)

Dan Calamari opened Energy's hurricane preparedness briefing by outlining Energy's readiness framework. He stated that Energy trains its employees year-round for major events and follows an incident command structure to stay unified with other agencies. In May, Energy completed a formal storm drill with internal staff. Energy prepares for hurricanes, tornadoes, and winter storms and has to execute work in an expedited manner. The company is recognized year after year for its storm restoration performance. Weather is monitored through a third party that provides clarity on wind speeds and rainfall. Energy uses a special database to predict damages and determine required resources to energize the system in a given timeframe. Energy conducts inspections of critical distribution lines serving hospitals, police, fire stations, sewage/water board facilities, and other critical infrastructure, and will bring in additional resources from neighboring utilities as needed. Energy emphasizes being self-sustainable for hard-hit areas, ramping up line workers based on the PREDICT model, and assigning storm roles to all employees. The restoration process is described as a sequence run in parallel across different resources: generation must be available, transmission must carry power to communities, and substations and feeders distribute energy. Critical infrastructure is prioritized (hospitals, CSOs, police, etc.), followed by restoring the largest number of customers, with harder-hit areas potentially taking longer and sometimes requiring customer-side repairs. Some components are owned by customers (weather heads, weatherproof conduits, meters), which may require permits and inspections before power can be safely restored. Calamari then handed off to Harry Barton to discuss resilience work.

Jessica Williams (Senior Customer Service Manager, Entergy New Orleans)

Jessica Williams provided an overview of Energy’s customer communications strategy for storms. She highlighted proactive outreach during pre-storm season to identify customers with special needs and critical facilities, conduct property inspections, and check for weatherhead, low wires, or vegetation issues.72 hours before landfall, Energy can contact customers to review plans; 24 hours before landfall, Energy verifies communications are open; 24 hours after landfall, they provide damage assessment updates and restoration timelines. During storms, customers can receive information via text messages, email updates, and the storm site; they can also follow Energy on social media and use the outage map. Damage assessment timelines are coordinated with the city’s NOLA Ready site. Post-storm communications focus on notifying critical customers, including senior living facilities, and updating the council through district outage texts. Customer service will be embedded in the networks and Energy will staff the city’s EOC for storms. A generator readiness program notes that cooling centers will be identified and referenced as critical customers. The presentation ended with Williams offering to answer questions.

Entergy New Orleans (Overview by Deanna Rodriguez; Detailed briefings by Dan Calamari, Jessica Williams, Courtney Nicholson, and Shronda Williams)

Deanna Rodriguez opened with remarks about Entergy's focus on reliability following repeated outages in the French Quarter and North Kenilworth, thanking customers for their patience and pledging better updates. She announced a reset of the table and introduced the reliability teams to share updates on the North Kenilworth and French Quarter projects. Dan Calamari provided a detailed timeline of the French Quarter and CBD improvements, noting that vault inspections occur daily and two end-to-end vault inspections occur each year. He explained that the underground system is unique to the CBD and requires specialized training; energy uses pumping systems to drain vaults after storms and has installed monitoring to track the functioning of pumps and transformers in new vaults. He answered questions about warning signs, explaining that vaults are inspected and monitored for water ingress. Jessica Williams discussed the customer engagement strategy for the French Quarter and North Kenilworth projects, including on-site coordination with hotels, real-time updates, and public communication channels. For North Kenilworth, Calamari outlined the end-to-end reliability improvements, including an extensive underground work, 30,000 feet of conduit installation, and 94% completion; 100 resources were mobilized since July 12. The team highlighted stakeholder engagement to provide context and manage outages and timelines.

Jessica Williams (Customer Service)

Jessica Williams described the North Kenilworth customer engagement plan, emphasizing boots-on-the-ground outreach and real-time updates for stakeholders. She noted that a dedicated hotline was created for residents to address concerns during the project, with the team monitoring calls and dispatching representatives as needed. A North Kenilworth project website was launched to provide updates, timelines, and location details. Text and email updates were distributed to inform residents of progress and property access needs. Williams highlighted collaboration with the city to ensure EOC support and the inclusion of nursing homes in the critical customer list. After the project, the hotline would remain active for a period to address lingering questions, and 3-1-1 updates would be used for ongoing communication.

Sewage and Water Board

Council Member McCarron opened with questions about DPS 7 pump operations, training, and whether the operator involved is still on staff. He asked about the training pipeline and apprenticeship opportunities, the average years of operator experience, and any disciplinary actions from the July event. Sewage and Water Board representatives described the training path from entry-level to operator, the presence of four primary operators per manned station, and the ongoing investigation with an expected conclusion within a week and a half. He also queried about whether retirees could be recalled for staffing during emergencies and the 17.5-hour limit for retirees. They discussed catch basin cleaning metrics, noting 3-1-1 tickets and data reporting gaps with cartograph systems, and the team explained immediate actions after July 11th including catch basin cleaning on Claiborne Avenue and Lakeview areas. The board acknowledged the need for real-time pump status alerts and better communication with the council and residents, including potential staffing increases. They also addressed the possibility of screens on catch basins and the importance of punch-list items for construction debris removal from catch basins after road projects.

Council Member Willard

Be it further resolved by the Council of the City of New Orleans that E&O is directed to include a feeder level analysis using the original methodology as described in Appendix A of Resolution Number R2373, as well as the adjusted methodology E&O proposed in its 2024 ESDRS filing. Additionally, E&O is directed to record and report portfolio and feeder level SADI and SAFE, including major event days in its annual compliance filing. E&O is directed to resubmit its 2025 reliability report with this information and to include this information in future reliability reports.

Council Member Willard

This resolution is to consider Entergy's motion regarding an extension of the electric formula rate plan rider. It's a procedural schedule.

Joint Utility, Cable, Telecommunications and Technology and Public Works, Sanitation and Environment Committee.

Summary

Summary of public meeting material — Joint Committee, New Orleans

Key speakers and topics

Decisions and actions (as stated) — Council resolution directing Energy & Operations (E&O) to

Actions ongoing or initiated (clear from the material)

Unresolved issues and open questions

Training and staffing questions from the council

Catch basins

Communication and coordination enhancements

Notes on scope and context

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