BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – Leaders gathered Tuesday for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of a Community Lighthouse solar and battery microgrid at IBEW Local 995.
The facility is designed to keep power on when hurricanes and floods knock out the electrical grid. The microgrid uses solar panels and batteries to provide backup power for families and emergency crews during disasters.
“Our goal is eventually to have one of these within 15 minutes, 10 minutes from every resident in Baton Rouge,” said Jason Dedon, business manager for IBEW Local 995.
When extreme weather knocks out power, the microgrid allows families to charge medical equipment, refrigerators, and cell phones. The facility also serves as a staging, coordination, and recovery center for emergency crews working to restore power.
“People have nowhere to go when their power is out. They need to be cool or be warm or they have a piece of medical equipment, even a cell phone, to charge. They are left in the dark. These resiliency hubs, our community lighthouses, will serve as anchors,” said Edgar Cage of Together Baton Rouge.
Joshua Cox, CEO of Community Power South, said the facility addresses ongoing grid vulnerabilities.
“Storms aren’t going to stop wreaking havoc. The grid isn’t going to stop going out. And we need to have the tools to be able to take care of ourselves until it all comes back up,” Cox said.
Half of the funding came from East Baton Rouge Parish, with the other half from Together Louisiana and federal tax credits. The facility allows workforce training to continue during disasters while serving the surrounding community.
“It will allow us to continue our training during disasters, and also open up the center to help the community around us,” said Darryl McGaha, training director for Baton Rouge Area Electrical JATC.
Logan Burke, executive director of the Alliance for Affordable Energy, emphasized the importance of transparent access to the facilities.
“We do think that it’s important that where there are these hubs, that there be a lot of transparency about access, where they are, who has access, and if they will be open when there are events,” Burke said.
With the new lighthouse in Baton Rouge, Louisiana now has 20 Community Lighthouses available. Leaders say at least two more are planned across the region, with a shared vision of creating a network of lighthouses across the state.
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