A new two-day gathering billed as the inaugural Gulf Coast Energy Forum is set to take over the Four Seasons Hotel New Orleans on October 20 and 21, pulling together energy executives, policymakers, investors, utilities, entrepreneurs and business leaders to hash out everything from oil and gas to hydrogen and grid modernization. The event, located at 2 Canal St., runs from 8 a.m. on opening day through 5 p.m. the following afternoon.
The forum is being jointly hosted by the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Louisiana and the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, according to Biz New Orleans. The agenda spans oil and gas, LNG, carbon management, renewables, hydrogen, grid modernization, energy security, infrastructure, investment, procurement and workforce development, making it one of the broadest energy convenings the city has seen this year.
Confirmed speakers include Entergy New Orleans President and CEO Deanna Rodriguez, who is delivering the forum keynote, along with Entergy Louisiana President and CEO Phillip May, former U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, and LSU Energy Institute Executive Director Greg Upton. Also on the roster, per a separate report from Biz New Orleans, are USHCC President and CEO Ramiro A. Cavazos, Hispanics in Energy CEO Jose Perez, FUEL Technology Commercialization Director Stephen Loy, and Riley Permian Vice President Synthia Jaramillo.
Why Rodriguez's Keynote Carries Extra Weight Locally
Rodriguez's role as keynote speaker lands with some local significance: retail electric rates for Entergy New Orleans are regulated directly by the New Orleans City Council rather than the Louisiana Public Service Commission, a governance quirk Hoodline previously reported makes Orleans Parish the only jurisdiction in the state where council members hold direct rate-setting authority over the utility. Meanwhile, Entergy Louisiana, led by May, is in the middle of a $1.9 billion Future Ready grid hardening plan approved by state regulators in 2024 to reinforce roughly 69,000 transmission and distribution structures following the damage Hurricane Ida inflicted in 2021.
Those investments sit at the center of the affordability debate the forum is expected to touch on. Louisiana's energy sector is not a side issue for the state's economy — a 2025 study commissioned by the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association found the industry accounts for 25% of Louisiana's total economy, adding $77.7 billion annually and supporting 306,750 jobs, or 15% of statewide employment.
LSU's $160 Million FUEL Project Bridges Research and Industry
Loy's presence connects the forum to a major academic initiative: the LSU-led Future Use of Energy in Louisiana project, which was awarded up to $160 million from the National Science Foundation to advance energy transition technologies, carbon management and workforce initiatives statewide. FUEL unites higher education institutions with private industry to commercialize emerging clean energy technologies, giving the forum's hydrogen and carbon management sessions a direct link to state-funded research.
Perez, who co-founded Hispanics in Energy in 2012, brings a workforce-inclusion angle to the gathering. Latino workers make up roughly 16% of the national energy workforce, and his organization has focused on expanding Hispanic representation in utility governance and industry executive ranks.
A National Program With Louisiana Stakes
The inaugural New Orleans event builds on USHCC's broader national energy programming, which held its 5th Annual Energy Summit in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in April, focusing on supply chain diversification, data center growth and utility reliability. According to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the national Latino business sector generates $4.1 trillion in economic output, even as Hispanic households in 2024 spent 24% more of their income on energy than the national average — a tension that frames much of the forum's dual focus on growth and affordability.
The host organization itself has deep roots in the region. Founded in 1984 as the Louisiana Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, HCCL took its current structure in 1999 after merging with the Gulf Coast International Chamber of Commerce to promote trade with Latin America and strengthen local Hispanic-owned businesses.
The forum arrives amid a steady drumbeat of energy-sector news out of Louisiana. Hoodline has reported on Entergy's $13.7 million federal grant for grid upgrades, the utility's $270 million Jefferson Parish grid investment tied to rate increases through 2029, and a separate Tulane energy forum held last month that similarly put the city at the center of oil, LNG and grid expansion discussions. Louisiana's outsized role in that supply chain stems in part from the Henry Hub in Erath, which connects 13 major pipeline systems and serves as the central benchmark for U.S. natural gas pricing, feeding export terminals like Cheniere's Sabine Pass.
