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Welcome to the Bayou blog

Providing insights, commentary and research in support of critical electrical grid upgrades in New Orleans to best ensure the Crescent City remains a vital place to live and work.

Before the Storm: How Utilities Prepare for Hurricane Season Energy VulnerabilityPower Grids

Before the Storm: How Utilities Prepare for Hurricane Season

In New Orleans, hurricane season isn't a surprise. The names change. The paths shift. But every year, storms come. We track forecasts like sports scores, know where our flashlights are (at least in theory), and keep a running list of which gas stations have backup power. Utilities don’t have the luxury of waiting until the forecast turns serious. For them,…
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July 25, 2025
A Grid-Sized Game of Telephone Energy VulnerabilityPower GridsPower Shut-Offs

A Grid-Sized Game of Telephone

What Sunday’s Outage Revealed About Transmission, Load Shedding, and Grid Coordination On Sunday, May 25, more than 125,000 Louisiana households experienced brief but widespread power outages. It wasn’t a hurricane or a lightning strike. In fact, the weather was relatively calm. The culprit? A regional reliability directive known as a load shed order, triggered by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO)…
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June 3, 2025
Canopy and Current: Finding Balance Between Trees and Grid Resilience in New Orleans Energy ResponsibilityEnergy VulnerabilityPower Lines

Canopy and Current: Finding Balance Between Trees and Grid Resilience in New Orleans

New Orleans loves its trees. We write songs about them. We name streets after them. And in summer, we depend on them because shade is as much a survival strategy as it is a scenic bonus. That’s why there was so much local energy around a major federal grant that would’ve funded tree planting in underserved neighborhoods like the Lower…
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May 16, 2025
Today I Learned: Adding a Battery to Your Home Isn’t as Simple as Plugging It In Battery Storage

Today I Learned: Adding a Battery to Your Home Isn’t as Simple as Plugging It In

This week’s technical conference on distributed energy batteries in New Orleans was packed with smart debates about cost-benefit ratios, equity, and bill impacts. But for me, the most eye-opening moments were about the technology hurdles hiding inside our walls. So, here’s a “Today I Learned” roundup about what it really takes to put a battery on the house, and why it’s harder (and…
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May 5, 2025

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