Climate Change and Sustainability Committee.

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Climate Change and Sustainability Committee

10:01 AM · Council Member McCarran (Chairwoman)

I'm Zach Franklin with Great Alternatives. We're a national nonprofit that builds community-powered solutions to empower communities through renewable energy. This is an amazing example. You talked about Leading the Nation as an organization that works with communities across the country. I can attest to that. This is really a nationally significant project that you're all taking on. We want to thank the Council, the staff, particularly Council Member McCarran, for your leadership on this, but also for some of the details that you all put into this final resolution, which we strongly support, and we're here also to commit to work with our local partners here to turn this policy into reality on the ground with a particular focus on the LMI component of this program, which is our mission. This is why we exist as an organization. We're committed to working both with local partners when it comes to deployment, but also in terms of the jobs, in terms of the building of these projects, employing local workers, local companies to do the work. We also just want to kind of double-click what you said in regards to fortified roofs, connecting the dots between the batteries, the solar panels, the roof that the solar panels sit on as really a combination for community power and community resilience. That's the vision that we share. We also want to just kind of make sure that we continue to kind of bring up the topic of consumer protection. We've seen a lot of great, well-intended, distributed energy programs across the country, including here in New Orleans, you know, run into issues where maybe some financial products get layered on top of that that aren't always in the interest of the community, and we're here to be a resource and help to make sure that we get out in front of that with this amazing program. So mostly we're here to say thank you, and we're here to help.

Sister Alicia Costa

Good morning. My name is Sister Alicia Costa. I'm the Congregational Leader of the Sisters of the Holy Family. For 184 years, we have served the New Orleans community upon the foundation of Venerable Henriette DeLille. When I entered the congregation over 50 years ago, we were nearly 350 sisters. Today, our count is 42. Due to our dwindling numbers, we joined together New Orleans to continue our ministries of service. TNO has become a beacon for us, showing us what the needs of the surrounding community are today. We are here to represent my sisters and our neighbors, especially in New Orleans East, who experience frequent power outages. These events have been devastating, especially when these outages occurred in the summer months. Neighboring homes and our institutions become like hot boxes as potential death traps. We have numerous elderly residents, not only at our LaFawn nursing facility and motherhouse, but also in our neighborhood on life sustaining equipment that cannot operate when the grid goes down. Due to these life sustaining needs, I speak on behalf of our New Orleans East residents in favor of this resolution, number R26. Thank you.

Debra Salvador

Good morning. I live in District B and I attend CCU a member of TNO in District A. First, I would like to thank all of you on this committee and anyone in this room or anywhere who has worked so hard to get us to this point with the Neighborhood Power Plan. This has taken a lot of creativity, effort, and compromise to say the least, and I appreciate all that went into making this a reality. The Neighborhood Power Plan means a better quality of life for the people of this city. I have participated in the TNO Civic Academies where we invite members of our communities across the five council districts so that we can speak about this program. People are excited to hear that there are solutions to the blackouts and brownouts that lead to disruptions of life at the best and loss of life at worst. They are happy to hear that their voices are being heard and that there are innovative approaches to dealing with these issues rather than being told that these power outages are just what we have to accept if we're going to live in this city. The Neighborhood Power Plan along with community lighthouses and the Sisters Community Solar Program are all part of a larger strategy to improve life in this city and encourage people to come to this city to live, to work, and to stay. New Orleans is a unique city with so much to offer, and we don't want to lose that just because we can't keep the lights on. Thank you.

Michelle Firestone

Good morning. My name is Michelle Firestone, and I'm a member of Community Church Unitarian Universalist and Together New Orleans. Like most of the people here, while I worship in New Orleans and spend a lot of time in New Orleans, I'm actually a resident of Jefferson Parish. But I recognize that the success of our entire region and our entire state depends upon the success of the city of New Orleans. And I love this city. And I know that one of the ways this city can succeed is by lowering energy costs for its citizens. This process has shown me just how difficult and complicated energy regulation and innovation can be, and also that it can be done. And I want to thank this committee for their hard work on what we at TNO call the Neighborhood Power Plan. And I want to thank you for showing the rest of the state, and even the country, that we here in New Orleans are smart and innovative and forward-thinking, and that working together we can do big things. Thank you.

Kathy Larimer

I'm Kathy Larimer. I'm also a member of Community Church Unitarian Universalist and Together New Orleans. Being involved with this distributed energy resource project, I learned a lot about solar and council process, and that it's unreasonable to expect city council to generate all the answers. Citizens need to be involved. This resolution will be good for the citizens to stay cool without a huge expense, and for the city to have backup power in the grid and bring us closer to carbon neutrality. So, thank you. Thank you.

Jessie George

On behalf of the Alliance for Affordable Energy and the Energy Future New Orleans Coalition, I was very pleased this morning, usually when I speak to the council, I check the little info-only box. Today I was very pleased to check the support box, because you're voting on something very good and innovative for the city of New Orleans, which is the culmination of a decade of citizen advocacy. The Alliance for Affordable Energy first began bringing experts to testify to the council to propound the benefits of batteries for New Orleans in 2016. And here we are today. Finally, you've listened. Crucially, you've made it sure that the people who need this program the most, the most vulnerable people in our community, will have zero upfront costs, which is a crucial component of this program. This program alone will not achieve that. I appreciate Councilman Willard's comments. But this is a first step in the right direction toward that goal. This program, the virtual power plant program in particular, CANON, should be expanded to include other distributed technologies. But this is a vital first step. And I commend you for the vote that you're prepared to take today. And I thank all of the people who showed up and advocated for this program over the years against the wishes of the utility, I would say. And here we are today. Thank you very much.

Monika Gerhart

I'm Monika Gerhart. I'm with Gulf States Renewable Energy Industries Association. JISREA is the folks who manufacture, install, and connect these resiliency measures. And mostly, I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you to Chair McCarran. Thank you to Councilmember Willard. Thank you to Councilmember Green. Your staffs, Aaron and Rizan and Courtney and Kiro and the advisors, Natalie Jordy and T&O and the Alliance, you all have done incredible work to get us here. And I just wanted to say thank you for your leadership. Thank you. Chairwoman, may I just take a point of personal privilege just to say to Monika Gerhart, thank you very much. Because on last week, the Gulf States Renewable Industries Energy Association gathered at Gallier Hall with 200 representatives from throughout the state of Louisiana and the nation. And they had a chance to hear some of the positives that are going on. And of course, one of the positives is why we're here today to celebrate. So in the midst of some of the negativity that we might see on the front page, there is a lot going on. And people from throughout the nation chose to come to New Orleans because they recognized that we're making progress. And I want to thank you for hosting them and for that great gathering that took place last week. Thank you.

Sean Moses

Morning. It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood. And by hood, we mean everybody who calls New Orleans home, which is all of us. Amen. Thank you council members. Thank you Together New Orleans Alliance. Thank you for everyone who loves our city. We like to say that the universe, the arc of the universe, bends towards justice, which it does call us towards. But we have to do the bending. And by we, we mean we. You cannot bend it on your own. And this has been a fine day when we have found out we need a bigger we in the city. And when that happens, beautiful things can happen. And I just want to say, when justice wins, everybody wins. Even those who are against justice win. And they might even sign up for batteries, amen. There are two phone calls I know I will get at the end of every month. One is from somebody who cannot pay their utility bill. And the other is from some reporter or some church or some university somewhere in the world asking, what the heck is going on in New Orleans? Last month, it was a reporter in Vienna. The month before that, it was a reporter in Paris. The month before that, it was someone in Oregon. It was a church group in Florida. Duke University has come here. The AP has come here. What is going on in this city is rippling across the nation and across the world. It is a drop in the bucket, but it is a very significant drop in the bucket. And I want to thank everyone who has been working on this. What is about to happen is truly a small step for humanity. It is a huge step for New Orleans. And it is a huge step in the right way for us and for our children and for my sophomore Loyola student who is with us. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Reverend Jeff Conner, followed by Calvin Lawrence.

Calvin Lawrence

Good morning council members, my name is Calvin Lawrence. I'm a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union 130. I'm also a member of Together New Orleans. And as a lifelong resident here, my address is 6054 Madrid Court. And just like a council member was talking about how we just get with the status quo, that that's just the way it is, man. And we know they have a phrase for that, to keep doing the same thing over and over again. That and expecting different results is insanity, you know. And we're not insane down here, man. I want to tilt my head off to y'all, to take the bravery to do something different, man. I take courage to do that. And everybody don't possess that. As y'all can see our politics going on in this country, man. People don't want to stand up for what's right. And I tilt my head off to Together New Orleans that's fighting for the little, man. Because you could be presenting this to help another person that already got it all already, that's able to buy a generator, able to afford these things. But we're fighting for the little, man, man. And I just take pride in that, knowing that a little street kid could come and get involved in the community and help out, man. And this is going to be a revolutionary thing. And I always know that you just don't despise a small beginning. It's just the beginning, man. And it starts somewhere. And it's starting right here with y'all, the decision y'all making. And again, I want to thank y'all for the support, for helping us work on this. And I just appreciate all the stuff that y'all do. Thank you.

Gareth Johnson

Good morning. My name is Gareth Johnson, a member of Together New Orleans, a resident of New Orleans East and the head lighthouse keeper at Cornerstone United Methodist Church. I keep coming back to how meaningful this process has been for me. New Orleans East is oftentimes forgotten, misunderstood, underserved, underinvested. And that was the reason why I got involved, to make sure that we would have a seat at the table. Now, we have three community lighthouses in New Orleans East. And now the Neighborhood Power Plan and Community Solar taking that work even further. Something happened last week that made this more personal for me in a new way. I helped lead a community forum on Community Solar, the solar farms at St. Mary's Academy. And I found myself watching the young African American girls in the gymnasium, listening intently, visibly proud, as they learned what the Sisters of the Holy Family had fought for, and were now building for their community and for the city of New Orleans. Those girls weren't just hearing about a solar project. They were watching. They were watching women of faith continue a legacy of service. Learning that caring for the poor can also mean fighting for a community's right to clean, affordable, reliable power, and for a seat at the tables that weren't always built or designed with them in mind. They were seeing women who look like them stand up, persist, and live to see the work to bear fruit. Whatever these girls become, they walk away knowing that you don't have to accept the conditions handed to your community. You can organize, and you can fight to make a change. Mary Ellen Burns, followed by Wendy Beck.

Mary Ellen Burns

Hi, I'm Mary Ellen Burns. I'm a resident in the First District and a member of First Unitarian Universalist Church of New Orleans and a member of TNO. And I'd like to point out that, as Steve Jobs said, great things in business are never done by one person. They're done by a team of people. Today, in a world where headlines scream, the end of humanity, the neighborhood power plan, and the team of people who came together and worked to create this win for the citizens of New Orleans have done a great thing. They offer hope. Around the world, we hear about corporate greed, dysfunctional government, and disengaged citizens. But here in New Orleans, the corporations, the council, and other government officials, and the citizens of New Orleans have made this problem. They've recognized this problem of resiliency in our power grid. They studied ways to fortify the grid with micro grids. And they put in the time with face-to-face meetings to create a solution that worked for all parties. The neighborhood power plan represents not only a win for building a more resilient infrastructure, but also a win for how working together and believing in a better world can make it so. Thank you.

Wendy Beck

Good morning. My name is Wendy Beck. I'm a project researcher with the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice. Thank you for bringing the Neighborhood Power Plan program to the council today, and for making this important investment in the resilience of New Orleans. This is a great step, and the details of the program will determine whether these funds truly advance resilience equitably. There is an, sorry, the council has prioritized upfront incentives and ensured that income qualified homeowners have a zero dollar contribution to participate. There is an important difference between making funds available for low-income households and structuring the program so that those households can actually take advantage of the funds, and this program does that. These funds provide a unique opportunity to make resilience more accessible across our diverse city. They come from penalties paid by Entergy related to reliability issues, allowing this investment to be made without increasing the city's budget or adding cost to the New Orleans ratepayers. This program has been structured to maximize the public benefit of those dollars. Battery storage can help households maintain power during extreme weather, while also contributing to the reliability of the broader grid, but it is one piece of a much larger resilience strategy. Transmission planning and development remain essential to New Orleans' long-term reliability. Batteries can provide important distributed resources, but they do not eliminate the need for a strong transmission system or continued investment in the infrastructure that connects New Orleans to the broader grid. This is an opportunity to bring more New Orleanians into building a resilient future, and Deep South Center for Environmental Justice is here in support of this program. Thank you.

Annie Clark

Hello, I'm Annie Clark with Finance New Orleans. Finance New Orleans is the City of New Orleans' quasi-public green bank and affordable housing finance agency. We are here to say thank you to City Council and thank you to all of the partners and community members that have gotten us to this point to make the neighborhood power plan happen. We're really here to offer our help and assistance as we enter the implementation phase, because we want to ensure the success of this program. Finance New Orleans, as the city's green bank, can help businesses bridge the battery incentives and help them fill gaps to ensure that they're able to install those batteries. Additionally, we look forward to partnership to provide that wraparound resilience, as mentioned by Councilmember Willard, to be able to help homeowners be able to install fortified roofs and continue to improve with energy-efficient upgrades in their homes. Again, we really want to make sure that we thank everybody here for getting us to this point, and we look forward to helping with a successful implementation.

Broderick Baggart

This is a historic piece of public policy, both for how it came to be and what it will bring about. So to you, your staffs, to the hundreds of community leaders who have helped to shape this, I feel deep gratitude and appreciation. We want to suggest a few amendments before this reaches the full Council, mainly to clear up ambiguities. We think it should be clear that battery systems that currently are in the pilot program are eligible to receive the ongoing incentives with an option to do so either under the existing compensation structure or the new one. Second, we think the Council should require that three phase commercial systems be eligible to participate in the program to the extent Energy Hub can support them. That's where we have the biggest potential to get bang for our buck. Third, batteries already interconnected but outside the pilot should be allowed to enroll and receive the ongoing payments. We don't think those systems should receive the upfront incentives, however great that would be for Together New Orleans financially, but we don't think it's good public policy. These dollars should help bring new systems into existence. During implementation, looking at the $75 ongoing payment, it feels totally adequate if you're getting the upfront front incentive. Whether over the long haul after the upfront incentives are gone, it's adequate to assure ongoing participation we think really needs to be looked at closely and it might not be. The resolution directs ENO, Curo, and the advisors to collaborate. We think that should be amended to include and interested stakeholders. Finally, without casting aspersions on the title Energy Smart Best Phase 2 Battery Pilot, we think it is the time for the Council to formally establish that the public name of this program is the Neighborhood Power Plan. We think it's going to make history. Thank you.

Jolie Bonk

Hello, I'm Jolie Bonk. I'm a resident of Mid-City. And I admit, I actually came here to show support for the Neighborhood Power Plan, but when I saw Lafitte Greenway on the agenda, I was happy to stay, to thank y'all for everything you're doing, to thank the Council. And I personally benefit from the Greenway because it's a safe place for me to ride my bike. But I have one other comment about the red lights at the major street crossings. When it first opened up, I noticed everybody running those red lights. I travel Carrollton a lot by car. Now I notice more and more people respecting those red lights, which is great. I always respect those red lights. And maybe a few tickets are given out to the people running those lights would help encourage more people to do it. But it is getting much better on Carrollton. I don't know about the other major arteries. But again, thank y'all so much for everything. I was glad to stay just to say I support it all. Thank you.

Online Comment - Lauren Zander

Comment being, thank you for considering the value of battery storage needs for our area. I want to use this opportunity to urge the Council to allocate the full funding towards battery storage incentives so qualified households can access grid resilience and clean energy at no cost. We would love to see this opportunity for more community members to access the benefits of distributed energy come to fruition.

Online Comment - Brad Coleman

I fully support the Battery Incentive Program. I hope the Council will persevere in ensuring that the full $28 million go towards upfront battery incentives and that low-income households face no or minimal barriers to participate in the program. Thank you for your leadership and work to improve sustainability in New Orleans.

Online Comment - Eileen Gleason

I favor the battery backup and virtual power plan. Our city must prepare for power backups due to storms, hurricanes, planned outages due to high demand on the grid. Batteries must be free of charge for those on limited incomes. I strongly encourage the City Council to pass this program.

Online Comment - Peter Degree

The Greater New Orleans Interface Climate Coalition asks for a unanimous vote to implement the Distributed Energy Resource Program. This is a major win-win which will prevent loss of power, increase the use of clean and renewable energy, help those with low and moderate income, and position New Orleans as a nationwide leader in developing a model of a virtual power plant. We hope that you are proud of your opportunity to cast this important affirmative vote.

Online Comment - Matt Mattingly

I am submitting this comment in support of the Neighborhood Power Plan Resolution before the Climate Change and Sustainability Committee today. First, I would like to thank the elected officials on the City Council for their support of this program. For two years, Together New Orleans and the Alliance for Affordable Energy have fought to make this vision a reality. Your willingness to listen, engage, and deliver these changes show that the public's voice matters. That means a lot. We all know what happens when our power goes down. This program will give our neighbors the tools to stay powered through those moments while helping our grid work smarter and creating more equity in our city. Thank you for your leadership in making it happen. Lastly, I'd like to encourage the Council to think about ways to keep stakeholder participation going through implementation. That collaboration is what got us here, and it will help make sure this program succeeds for our city. Thank you.

Jolie Bonk (Online Comment follow-up)

Okay, that concludes public comment, so I will move to approve. Council Member, we have some online comments. Oh, sorry. Online comments. All right, we have six online comments.

Council Member McCarran (Adjournment)

Okay, that concludes our meeting. So I'll make a move to adjourn. Seconded by Council Member Greene. All in favor. Thank you for the invitation. Thanks, everybody. Council Member, let's take a photo with them. Jason, we're gonna take a picture.

Climate Change and Sustainability Committee.

Summary

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