NEW ORLEANS — The city of New Orleans has taken a giant step forward in the use of renewable energy.
Wednesday, a city council committee signed off on Entergy's plan to use solar power to generate 10 percent of the city's electricity in two years.
The plan calls for a new 200-acre, 20-megawatt solar farm at NASA's Michoud facility in New Orleans East.
Entergy New Orleans has also agreed to acquire a 50-megawatt solar facility to be built in Washington Parish.
The utility will also purchase power from a yet to be constructed 20-megawatt solar farm in St. James Parish.
"This is happening in other parts of the country, so why couldn't it happen here," City Council President Helena Moreno said. "We continued to work and sure enough we ended up being able to put all the pieces together."
The city has been pushing Entergy New Orleans to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels for the past three years.
"We haven't always agreed," Entergy attorney Tim Cragin said. "We sometimes see things very differently. But, in the end we were able to find common ground and deliver a great, clean resource portfolio."
The renewable energy projects will cost ratepayers about $1.50 per month.
The Alliance for Affordable Energy is happy to see three new solar plants come online. But they're not thrilled with Entergy passing those some construction and other costs on to customers.
City council documents pegged the cost of the New Orleans East facility at about $42 million.
"As we watch the effects of climate change continue to effect our state we must undertake a transformation of how we power our homes and businesses," Sophie Zaken from the Alliance for Affordable Energy said.
Moreno added that while the agreement was slow to develop, it turned out the way they wanted.
"Now we also have a facility as well in New Orleans East that's going to bring hundreds of jobs to that area and also bring us about $6 million worth of property taxes as well," Moreno said.
That's $6 million worth of property taxes over the next 10 years.
The new solar farms are expected to be online and producing electricity by the end of next year.