Terrebonne council member disputes parish president's claim of brownout threat in Houma

Houma is in danger of rolling brownouts until a temporary power plant is completed, the Terrebonne Parish president said. One Parish Council member is unconvinced.

Parish President Gordon Dove said the damage to the main 80-megawatt power plant from Hurricane Ida has left it totaled. Houma is getting about 80 megawatts of power from the Midcontinent Independent System Operator system, but any greater draw could force rolling brownouts to get the demand under control, he said. A 24-megawatt plant is being built on Barrow Street in Houma to solve the problem until the damaged plant is replaced. The temporary plant will take about three weeks.

"There's no good thing about a hurricane, but if there is a light at the end of the tunnel, we should get a new power plant out of the deal," Dove said. 

The parish is divided into three sections for electricity use: the city of Houma, 80 megawatts; Entergy has a portion of the parish, roughly 100 megawatts; and South Louisiana Electric Cooperative Association has another portion of the parish, roughly 70 megawatts. SLECA's and Entergy's numbers were rough estimates, Dove said.

Houma is part of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator grid, a non-profit organization that manages power. According to Dove, the parish generated power from the now destroyed power plant and was paid for putting that power into the grid. Then the parish paid MISO for what power Houma used, including some spillover areas like Green Acres.

If the city has a greater draw than the 80 megawatts it is allocated, MISO will notify the government, Dove said. This would force the government to begin a rolling brown out to get the draw under control, referred to as shedding load.

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"A blackout is when you lose all transmission to the parish or city," Dove said. "A brownout is when we have to strategically turn off sections of the city because we cannot give everyone the power they need - and of course we have to keep the hospitals on power."

As an example, a great draw could come from heat waves, when many people would use air conditioners. To alleviate this draw, sections of the city would have to be shut off for 15 minutes at a time, one after the other, until the demand is brought back under the 80 megawatt provided. The highest draw Dove has seen has been 85 megawatts.

Councilman Gerald Michel disputes this threat. Michel argued that if Houma was in impending threat of a brownout, the city would have had one by now because the powerplant has been damaged since Hurricane Ida. This 24-megawatt powerplant, he argues, is a waste of tax dollars.

"We would've had brownouts through the heat of the summer," Michel said Friday.

The decision for the 24 megawatt power plant was discussed during a special session council meeting Sept. 7. Michel was the sole vote against the motion.

"I'm not saying we don't need to do this," Michel said at the meeting. "I'm saying we need more information before we do it."

During the special meeting, Councilman Danny Babin asked a representative from Royal Engineering about who the 24 megawatt plant would service. Project Manager Jason Guy said the plant was only meant to serve as a backup for critical infrastructure like hospitals and waterworks. If the generator were used outside of emergency purposes, the parish would need to seek reimbursement from FEMA.

"So it could be used in the term of an emergency situation, or in the event where MISO would require the parish to shed load," Guy said. "So, in that particular instance, it would help to serve all of your other facilities, even outside of your critical facilities."

Guy also said that while parts of the damaged 80-megawatt plant still functioned, they wouldn't necessarily function properly during a storm or other hazardous weather. He said that a new, revised assessment is being put together based on engineers' findings. Once the insurance companies finish reviewing it, his company will write a scope development for FEMA public assistance.

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"Even if an item is still currently working, it may not meet code to put it back in service if it was wet or damaged in any way, shape or form," Guy said. "There was a lot of other damage that wasn't necessarily included in the insurance assessment."

The parish is in discussions with FEMA to get the 80-megawatt plant replaced, and Dove said he's negotiating to get it upgraded to a 100-megawatt plant. Terrebonne Parish Chief Finance Officer Kandace Mauldin said during the special meeting that once money has been located for the replacement plant, it will go before the Parish Council for approval.

Dove said it will take at least three years to replace the 80-megawatt plant. In the interim, Dove said engineers estimated the parish would need about 20 extra megawatts to offset any high demands to avoid the brownouts. The council approved a 24-megawatt power plant built by Aggreko to regulate this potential extra draw. Once completed, the city will no longer be in danger of rolling brownouts, Dove said.

"Our dilemma is we don't have any backup power above what we have coming into the parish," he said. "That's why we are trying to boost it. We need 20 megawatts, but we are putting a 24 megawatt in."

This short term power plant will cost $1.5 million a month. The total cost would be $20 million the first year, and $18 million each following year which, according to Dove, will be paid for by FEMA. The increase in the first year includes installation costs.

The parish has leased the 24-megawatt plant for six months, but will likely renew with a longer contract. Mauldin said the parish is seeking funding from insurance first, and then FEMA. She said the parish had preliminary discussions with FEMA, and officials were comfortable that FEMA would cover the remaining cost, but it was not guaranteed. FEMA will only reimburse 90%, but she said the remainder would be covered through grants.

"So we're going to go after the insurance first, and then we will go to FEMA," she said. "We've already had discussions with FEMA, preliminary saying, 'Hey, this is coming.' It's all been talked about. I don't want to say approved, but it has been discussed with them."

Dove said he is hoping to retain the smaller power plant once the larger plant is completed in a lease-to-own method, but said FEMA has many stipulations when it pays for something.

"We're being told by FEMA we can only lease it for them to cover the cost of it, but we're working with FEMA because we would like to lease-purchase it," Dove said. "And at least by the end of the day own that small power plant."