Entergy, grid operator promise earlier warnings after Memorial Day weekend outages
Why it matters: Utilities knew the grid was strained for at least 48 hours but didn't tell the public until the AC went out for about 100,000 customers on a hot holiday weekend.
The big picture: The May 25 event was an "extremely rare" transmission emergency, not a capacity issue, said Todd Hillman, senior VP and chief customer officer at Midcontinent Independent System Operator.
Speaking to the New Orleans City Council on Tuesday, Hillman likened the agency to air traffic controllers for the power grid.
There was enough power elsewhere, he said, but they couldn't get it to metro New Orleans to meet the demand. (MISO's full explanation)
To prevent outages spreading throughout the region, MISO told Entergy and Cleco to cut power by specific amounts within 30 minutes.
Entergy operators in Jackson, Mississippi, used models to select neighborhoods for the outage. (Timeline from Entergy New Orleans)
How it works: New Orleans is in a "pocket" in MISO's system, which makes it more difficult to get power to the area.
Think of the transmission lines like bridges accessing an island, Hillman said. When only two of the three bridges are working, traffic is limited.
MISO has done transmission line improvements elsewhere in its system, but there's a bottleneck in south Louisiana.
Improvement projects are still in the planning phases, MISO reps said Tuesday.
Friction point: Industrial customers use 70% of the state's power, according to Public Service Commissioner Davante Lewis, who was in council chambers Tuesday for the committee meeting.
"I feel that there has been a priority by our utilities in favor of industrial customers at the expense of residential and commercial," Lewis said. "I think we have to have a big conversation about that."
Stunning stat: Louisiana's electricity customers experience more than 12 times as many hours of power outages than the national average, writes Axios' Chelsea Brasted.
What we're watching: New Orleans is working on ways to make itself more sustainable during power outages.
It has the Community Lighthouse project, and the council is looking at microgrids and virtual power plants.
These would use a network of solar panels and battery storage systems to serve as a backup to the grid if it goes down or there's a strain. Go deeper.
Council President JP Morrell tells Axios he expects the council to make a decision this year about the virtual power plants.
Zoom out: More communication has been an ongoing theme in recent council meetings.
Members want to get information to the public sooner, especially through the NOLA Ready text system.
Examples: The jail outbreak and neutral ground parking.
What's next: The Louisiana Public Service Commission will hear from MISO and Entergy Louisiana at its June 18 meeting about the power outages and the transmission situation.
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San Francisco Chronicle
11 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Mt. Tam railroad's last survivor restored and ready for new role at California museum
SACRAMENTO — Early morning commuters on Highway 37 Friday would have been taken aback by an ancient mode of transportation rolling alongside the old passenger railroad tracks that once connected Marin County to Vallejo and the world beyond. It was Engine No. 9, the last relic of the fabled Mount Tamalpais and Muir Woods Railway, on a tractor trailer headed up the line to Sacramento. The steam locomotive, built in 1921 and lettered in gold, was bound for the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, where it will go on public display in August. This completes a seven-year restoration effort by Friends of No. 9, a nonprofit that sank $500,000 and 15,000 volunteer hours into arriving at this point. 'This is like a coronation for us,' said Fred Runner, President of Friends of No. 9, the Novato nonprofit that got the job done. The engine was delivered in a five-vehicle parade from Sebastopol to Sacramento, led by Sheedy Drayage of San Francisco, which transported the 36-ton load of iron and steel, free of charge. 'To be invited to the CSRM is like having a vintage car invited to show at the Concours d'Elegance in Pebble Beach,' Runner said. 'It's a very rare thing that just doesn't happen. But it did.' As a teaser for the railroad museum display, No. 9 was brought by the same Sheedy Drayage trailer to the Mill Valley Depot over Memorial Day weekend. It made its public premiere in the town parade, with its bell ringing and the whistle blowing and smoke coming out of the engine. 'There was a tremendous display of enthusiasm by people who loved the engine and thought it should stay at the depot,' Runner said. But by then the train was already rolling to Sacramento, a commitment made a year ago, when it was still in mid-restoration at a workshop. That was a job that took five years from the moment it was purchased at auction up near Eureka, where it had sat out in the weather gathering rust for 62 years. 'We are lucky that there is this marvelous group of obsessives that tracks these old steam engines,' said Runner, who led a team that outbid five other obsessive parties to muster up the winning bid of $56,240 to buy No. 9. There were 15 members of the bidding party, most of whom were devoted to the lore of the old Mount Tam railroad line and knew this was the last remaining piece of it. 'There is this whole fabric of stories about the lore of Mount Tam, and the railroad is at the center of it,' said Runner, a movie sound mixer who worked on 'Basic Instinct,' 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' 'Total Recall' and most recently 'Top Gun: Maverick,' which won an Academy Award for sound two years ago. 'As a moviemaker I'm interested in stories, and the stories about Mount Tam are tremendous,' Runner said. The story of the Mount Tam railway, which called itself 'the crookedest little railroad in the world,' was told in the 1980s in 'Steaming Up Tamalpais,' a short documentary by Mill Valley filmmaker Cris Chater. Runner saw it at the Mill Valley Film Festival and started tracing the tourist railroad line, which was built in 1896 and scrapped in 1930. Its 8.1 miles of track from the Mill Valley depot to the Mount Tam summit — 281 turns later — had been ripped out, as was the 2-mile spur into Muir Woods. Only Engine No. 9 survived, probably because it was still new with life left in it when the railway closed so it wasn't sold for scrap. It worked an additional 25 years hauling lumber from the forest to the mills. 'Amazingly it didn't get melted down to turn into weapons during World War II,' Runner said. No. 9 was no longer in running condition when the Friends bought it at auction, and it is still not in running condition because the boiler would need to be rebuilt and certified at a cost of $150,000, he estimated. The engine is 34 feet long, 12 feet high and 9 feet wide, and every aspect including the nonworking boiler was taken apart piece by piece. It was all repaired, cleaned, greased and then put back together — tender, cab, boiler, frame, even the assembly for the steel wheels. 'The restoration of the No. 9 represents the very best impulses of the preservation community,' said Ty Smith, director of the California State Railroad Museum. 'Although the locomotive won't steam passengers up Mount Tamalpais, it serves as a window into a remarkable episode in California history. We're grateful to be able to share in telling this important story.' When it arrived by caravan Friday morning, No. 9 was put onto the museum's railroad track and pushed along to its display stage. At that point, Runner was allowed to sit in the engineer's seat and listen to the valves open and close while No. 9 was actually moving on live track for the first time since 1953. It went only a few hundred feet, but the ride was smooth, thanks to 16 new springs. 'To feel the engine actually moving and hearing it hiss was a thrill,' he said. The engine was then removed to storage space, to allow museum staff time to finalize the exhibit. No. 9 will be up for six months with a possible extension, but it still needs a permanent home. 'While it is in Sacramento, we are working on it,' Runner said. 'It's an extraordinary piece of local history that deserves to be remembered.'
Axios
5 days ago
- Axios
New Orleanians want less flash, more function from City Hall
Many New Orleanians are scaling back their hopes for City Hall after years of big promises and slow progress. Why it matters: Instead of dreaming of transformation, residents just want a city that works. The big picture: In a recent citywide poll, 37% of residents said street repair and maintenance were their top concerns, and 30% pointed to drainage and flooding. While crime remains the top concern overall, its importance has fallen since last year, as frustration has grown with street conditions, according to the New Orleans Crime Coalition survey. 65% of respondents said the city is on the wrong track. "People have not been trusting City Hall for some time now," says Robert Collins, a professor of urban studies and public policy at Dillard. Zoom in: City priorities are a focus of this fall's election, when voters have the potential to overhaul the leadership at City Hall. LaToya Cantrell is term-limited and her mayoral seat is hotly contested. So are the City Council spots. Inside the room: New Orleanians care about their city, and there's been intense interest in how things can be fixed. In about a dozen community meetings over the past year, residents have shared their ideas for how to improve safety on Bourbon Street, make City Park more user-friendly and spur development in New Orleans East. But there's been a thread of skepticism from attendees about their voices being heard and projects actually finishing. So they've scaled back their expectations and focused on the basics. What they're saying:"The city always overpromises and under-delivers," Collins tells Axios New Orleans. "People have been promised large-scale infrastructure improvements before, but it never happens," he said. So now, people are looking for baby steps that can be delivered in a year or so. Case in point: Bourbon Street: Proposals for sweeping safety changes lost out to more immediate fixes this year, after vocal objections from residents and business owners. Now leaders are focusing on making the current barricades work while they investigate other options. City Park's planned overhaul was scaled back after community pushback. Residents wanted upgrades, but not at the expense of existing programs like Grow Dat Youth Farm. The new plan, unveiled last month, is " somewhat transformational without changing the backbone" of the park, City Park Conservancy president and CEO Rebecca Dietz told Axios New Orleans. (See renderings) Lincoln Beach: An ambitious plan for the historic Black beach — including an expensive rooftop pool — was shelved in favor of a simpler one that focuses on the sandy beach and basic amenities. Other lingering projects include Plaza Tower and the Market Street Power Plant. Progress is happening at the former Six Flags and the new River District, but much slower than initially promised. What we're watching: The new administration will have to focus on rebuilding public trust, Collins said. Improving customer service and responsiveness for city services, especially with the Sewerage & Water Board, would go a long way with residents, he says.
Chicago Tribune
18-07-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Donna Vickroy: The joy of simple things, and defying age in a time of uncertainty
It was over the winter that my husband and I decided to ignore our advancing age and take a giant step backward into our parenting years. We ordered an outdoor playset for the grandchildren. Even though both sets of kiddos have a swing set at their own homes, we felt they'd appreciate one when they came to visit. It arrived in May in a million pieces packed into long, rectangular boxes. I immediately regretted the decision. The mess, the work, the months it would take to complete a project like this. Had we lost our minds, at last? I imagined aching muscles, pulled hamstrings, splinters. I imagined chaos unfolding in the backyard. It looked impossible to return, so I suggested we hire someone to put it together. My husband, nearly five years my senior, insisted he do it himself. I know, I know, we're at an age when 'careful' is a daily reminder. Life is supposed to be slowing down. We're supposed to be sitting in recliners, remote in hand, listening to our bones creak as our days wind down. We're supposed to be past youthful ambitions. Though we tire more easily and heal from simple missteps more slowly, we haven't yet learned how to act our age. Despite, or perhaps because of, losing so many people in our circle these past few years, we are determined to eke every last ounce of life from however many years we have left. We recently expanded all of our gardens, doubling the size of the veggie plot and turning the railroad space into a dinosaur land. The bending, the pulling, the hauling. It hurt like heck but in a good kind of way. We still walk every day. We still stay up late on Saturday nights watching 'SNL' and movies. We still enjoy a cocktail now and then. We still book kayaking and snorkeling vacations. And we still tussle with our 90-pound dog daily. The audacity of denial? Perhaps. Luck? Definitely. Of course, we know our days are numbered. We figure we can count them sitting on the sofa or we can do the math while up to our elbows in power tools. Nevertheless, I confessed, this particular project might be too much of a beast. 'I can do it,' my husband said. He also could get hurt. He could pass out. He could blow a hip or a shoulder. He could get half way through and then determine it was not a good idea. 'People our age don't build swing sets,' I said. 'They pay someone else to do it.' He was adamant. And, so I warned the youngsters it might be a few months before things were up and running. I was wrong. With an afternoon's help from our son-in-law and his sophisticated tool kit, that playset was ready to go in a couple of days. On Memorial Day, the kids put it through the paces. They swung standing up. They flipped upside down. They hoisted all kinds of toys up to the ladder to the fort atop the slide and then hurled them back down. And the 3-year-old conquered his Mount Everest. Choosing to forgo the perfectly good wooden ladder designed to make the ascent to the slide's top easier, he stood at the bottom edge of the slope, gripped the sides and begin the arduous climb up the plastic incline. The hard way. It took triple the time it would have had he chosen the ladder, but he never gave up. Grunting, sweating, hoisting his little body along the slippery fiberglass. One tiny sneaker up, a short slide down, another step up, another slide down. His eyes were laser focused, his mouth betraying the physicality of the challenge. At last, he reached the top, turned around, clapped his hands and, in the blink of an eye, slid down to his starting point. And began the whole process again. We cheered. Because he'd accomplished his goal, and because we understand the joy in not always taking the easy way. In life, there will be mountains to climb, hardships to endure, limits to be tested. Perhaps this was a preschooler's training ground. Or perhaps that apple really doesn't fall far from the tree. If I've learned anything during these bitter, fast-moving chaotic months of 2025, it is to make home a sanctuary. When the news is overwhelming and the future seems bleak, I walk through my gardens and marvel at nature's persistence. I've learned to savor the small wins, to regale in the simple joy of achievement even when the only people applauding are under the age of 10. And I've come to realize there is merit in going to bed each night completely worn out. Nothing keeps those 2 a.m. scaries at bay like complete exhaustion. We set out to construct a swing set, a lofty goal for two people old enough to get seriously hurt going down a slide. And we did it — well, he did most of it — proving that even in old age, sometimes you can still get the win.
