Updates to power out in NOLA

Nuclear power plant in St. Francisville tripped offline unexpectedly over the weekend, officials say

ST. FRANCISVILLE, La. (WAFB) - Officials said the Riverbend Nuclear Generating Station in the St. Francsville area unexpectedly tripped offline over the weekend.

The issue at the plant is one factor that led to a large-scale power outage across the New Orleans area on Sunday, May 25. More than 100,000 Entergy and Cleco customers were left in the dark at one point.

Officials said another power station was also already offline over the weekend for routine work, meaning there wasn’t enough capacity to meet demand. As a result, MISO, the grid operator that oversees energy supply across a multi-state region, ordered the outage.

According to Public Service Commissioner Davante Lewis, Riverbend also went offline for a period of time last week but came back online before going down again over the weekend.

Lewis criticized the apparent lack of planning and said formal hearings will be held to determine why backup power wasn’t available.

“To go down for April and May for maintenance is typical,” Lewis said. “However, you’re supposed to ensure you have enough generation capacity, that when that plant can’t come online, there’s enough power for what people need for their homes.”

New Orleans City Councilman JP Morrell echoed frustration over the sudden nature of the outage and said he was personally impacted. He added that Entergy was directed by MISO to begin controlled power cuts to avoid damaging the broader electric grid, but said that regulators were still waiting on full answers from the agency.

By WAFB Staff

Published: May 26, 2025 at 2:36 PM CDT|Updated: 5 hours ago

https://www.wafb.com/2025/05/26/nuclear-power-plant-st-francisville-tripped-offline-unexpectedly-over-weekend-officials-say/

>>23086029

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Officials demand answers, businesses tally losses after 100k lose power across southeast Louisiana

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - Local and state officials are demanding answers after more than 100,000 Entergy and Cleco customers across southeast Louisiana lost power Sunday afternoon (May 25), following a large-scale, unexpected outage ordered by the regional power grid operator, MISO (Midcontinent Independent System Operator).

The New Orleans City Council and Louisiana Public Service Commission say they plan to investigate what led to the mass outage, which Entergy said stemmed from a “load-shedding event” – a controlled emergency power cut triggered when a nuclear plant tripped offline and another power station was down for scheduled maintenance.

The outage began shortly before 4:30 p.m. Sunday, affecting neighborhoods across Orleans Parish, Jefferson Parish, St. Bernard, and the Northshore, including large portions of Uptown, Lakeview, and the West Bank.

Entergy New Orleans confirmed in a statement that the outage was a result of an order from MISO, the grid operator that oversees energy supply across a multi-state region.

Public Service Commissioner Davante Lewis said the Entergy-run River Bend Nuclear Generating Station unexpectedly tripped offline, and because the Waterford generator was already down for routine work, there wasn’t enough capacity to meet demand.

He criticized MISO for not preparing additional energy sources and said formal hearings will be held to determine why backup power wasn’t available.

“To go down for April and May for maintenance is typical,” Lewis said. “However, you’re supposed to ensure that you have enough generation capacity, so that when that plant can’t come online, that there’s enough power to produce what people need for their homes.”

Lewis also said there should be more investment in infrastructure to connect Entergy to other sources of energy.

Entergy confirmed the Waterford maintenance but did not address the River Bend plant in a statement sent to Fox 8.

By Chris Joseph

Published: May 26, 2025 at 1:03 PM CDT|Updated: 3 hours ago

https://www.wafb.com/2025/05/26/officials-demand-answers-businesses-tally-losses-after-100k-lose-power-across-southeast-louisiana/

>>23086031

>>23086062

Just some that I like. Back to lurking.