New Orleans is at a crossroads. On one hand, the Council is considering new proposals in the Distributed Energy Resources (DER) docket, rules that will shape how rooftop solar, batteries, and other resources support our grid. On the other hand, PosiGen, the company that dominated the local solar market, has collapsed. With an estimated 80% market share and approximately 9,500 systems in New Orleans, their failure raises urgent questions about the future of thousands of customers with solar rooftops and the power they produce.
~9,500 Rooftops Hanging in the Balance
- PosiGen Fallout: Thousands of households are now left wondering: Who owns their solar panels? Will creditors dismantle them? Will lease payments rise? This level of uncertainty for such a large segment of our grid is unacceptable.
- Grid Impact: Rooftop solar isn’t just about individual households. Together, these systems represent a meaningful share of distributed generation that helps stabilize the grid and lower bills for everyone. If these systems are removed or left unmanaged, all ratepayers will pay the price.
- DER Docket Reset: The City Council’s Technical Advisors received revised solar and battery system (DER) proposals this week. While there are important updates, the proposals don’t yet address the elephant in the room: the sudden instability in the solar market.
City Council Regulators Need to Tackle 3 Questions Now
Resilience New Orleans sent this letter to the City Council calling on them to act. Specifically, we raised three urgent questions:
- What role can the Council play as regulator to secure the city’s existing solar resources?
- How do we ensure that lease customers are not exploited or abandoned in the bankruptcy process?
- How do we adjust DER policy so it reflects the real market conditions New Orleans faces today?
Reliability, Affordability, Resilience—All on the Line
- Reliability: Losing 9,500+ solar rooftops means losing distributed resources that keep lights on during peak demand and outages.
- Affordability: If creditors strip away panels, ratepayers lose out on existing power that offsets Entergy’s generation.
- Resilience: Families invested in the solar leasing option because even with tax credits, the upfront costs to solar were too high. Now they’re exposed to financial and regulatory uncertainty they didn’t sign up for.
Protect What We’ve Built, Fix What’s Broken
The recent failure is a challenge, but it is also an opportunity to strengthen protections for families and design smarter DER rules that reflect today’s realities. The Council must:
- Investigate PosiGen’s contracts and obligations.
- Explore pathways for preserving customer systems through a cooperative, credit purchase, or other intervention.
- Ensure DER rules align with a suddenly different solar landscape in New Orleans.
We Can’t Afford to Lose Our Solar Future
New Orleans has long been a leader in distributed energy. But leadership requires vigilance. The Council must act quickly to protect thousands of households and safeguard the city’s clean energy future.
Read more about the bankruptcy here: https://www.nola.com/news/business/posigen-solar-layoffs-louisiana-trump-tax-credits/article_6cc1a144-9efa-41e7-86f0-e5867e4c5d0b.html