On October 17, 2023, Entergy New Orleans launched a $1 billion grid hardening program called “Operation: Gridiron.” [1] The initiative aims to make the New Orleans, Louisiana, grid stronger and prepare for more frequent, stronger storms. It was developed in response to a request by the city council following Hurricane Ida in 2021, and the company is now seeking approval for its plan from the council. The company would file progress reports with the city council every six months if approved. The plan would be put in place in two five-year phases. The proposed first phase would save customers about $216 million in storm restoration costs over 50 years. The company plans to recover costs via a “resilience and storm hardening” cost rider added to customer bills. Entergy said the plan would cut outage times by more than half and save customers millions of dollars. The proposed plan will upgrade thousands of poles to withstand 150 mph winds and harden 650 miles of power lines.

[1] https://www.entergynewsroom.com/news/entergy-new-orleans-announces-operation-gridiron-making-new-orleans-grid-stronger/