The New Orleans City Council's Climate Change and Sustainability Committee just threw the city's community solar effort a critical lifeline, voting to give developers more time to navigate changing grid safety rules while turning up the pressure on Entergy New Orleans for straight answers. The hearing spotlighted a roughly 60 megawatt pipeline, described as enough to power an estimated 6,000 to 7,800 homes, and ended with a recommendation to approve Resolution R-26-109. The measure would push key compliance deadlines out to April 27, 2026, with council members saying the goal is to keep projects from stalling while interconnection standards are under review.
Council Pushes Utility To Clarify Direct Transfer Trip Rules
As outlined by the City Council, R-26-109 directs Entergy New Orleans to file updated Direct Transfer Trip (DTT) guidelines by April 27 and pauses project deadlines between March 13 and April 27 for any facilities affected by the review. The resolution states that ENO's ongoing review of its DTT standards amounts to a delay outside developers' control and formally asks the utility to spell out which projects will actually need DTT installations. Committee members argued that clearer rules should reduce surprise costs and help more community solar sites move from the drawing board to construction.
Why DTTs Add Cost And Delay
Direct Transfer Trip systems are protective relays that automatically disconnect large solar installations during grid disturbances to protect equipment and lineworkers. They also bring extra hardware, communications gear and coordination costs that can add tens of thousands of dollars to a project's budget. Entergy New Orleans interconnection materials lay out those Distributed Energy Resource standards and flag situations where isolation protection like DTT may be required. As reported by Biz New Orleans, ENO has hired a third-party reviewer, and officials told the committee they expect to share interim guidance in mid April and a full revision by mid June.
Pipeline Status And Low-Income Protections
City presentation slides show a community solar pipeline that includes roughly 51 megawatts in the application queue, about 5 megawatts under construction and 15 megawatts on a waitlist, all under a 60 megawatt cap that mixes low-income and open-subscription projects. Subscribers typically receive 1:1 bill credits that offset electricity use. The council's materials note that low-income participants receive a 2 cent adder on solar credit rates and that projects must reserve a share of capacity for low-income subscribers. Officials estimate that a fully built community solar portfolio would account for about 4.3% of Entergy New Orleans generation and produce roughly half the output of the New Orleans East power plant, a scale proponents say is big enough to matter but small enough to test the model.
Sisters Project Anchors The Pipeline
Organizers say those projections are based in part on expected output from the Sisters of the Holy Family community solar project, a 22 acre site in New Orleans East that is planned to serve hundreds of nearby households and double as a workforce training and resilience hub. The project's design and community benefits have been detailed by The Lens, while the broader numbers appear in the council committee's materials. Together New Orleans and other community groups have pushed for rules that prioritize low-income subscribers and local jobs, and supporters say the current pause for DTT guidance is meant to protect those equity gains as the program scales up.
What Comes Next For Projects And Ratepayers
With the committee's recommendation now in hand, the full City Council is expected to take up R-26-109. If adopted, Entergy New Orleans would be required to file updated DTT guidelines by April 27, giving developers a concrete timeline for compliance. Project advocates told councilmembers that even a brief extension could stave off cancellations and preserve low-income allotments, although developers caution that any additional DTT installations will still raise costs and could squeeze already tight project budgets. The coming weeks will reveal whether ENO's updated guidance, followed by the promised full revision by mid June, finally clears the technical roadblocks that have been holding community solar sites back.
