FILE - Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm speaks at McKinstry Aug. 15, 2023, in Seattle. The Biden administration on Oct. 18 announced $3.5 billion for 58 projects across the country to strengthen electric grid resilience. FILE - Wildfire wreckage is shown on Aug. 11, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. Hawaii’s top public utility officials and the president of Hawaiian Electric are expected to testify Thursday, Sept.
“Our outdated grid has been in need of an update for a long, long time,″ said Mitch Landrieu, a White House senior adviser who coordinates implementation of the “As we sadly saw in California, aging electricity infrastructure can cause catastrophic loss of life, property, natural areas and forest fires,” said Jonathan Foley, executive director of Project Drawdown, a San Francisco-based group that publicizes climate solutions.
In Louisiana, two projects will focus on helping disadvantaged communities withstand extreme weather and develop microgrids to work with local utilities and back up existing assets. Entergy New Orleans also will enhance the local grid’s resilience to severe weather, including hardening existing transmission lines and distribution systems to reduce outage frequency and duration.