In the wake of 100,000 customers losing their electricity Sunday as part of a "load-shed" event, a utility watchdog wants regulators with the Louisiana Public Service Commission and the New Orleans City Council to insist we get a full understanding of why the power outages were ordered with no notice for customers.
"The City Council and LPSC should demand that Entergy and Cleco share all available information to understand how this event happened," Emma Meyerkopf with the Alliance for Affordable Energy said.
She called on state and city officials to "demand transparency."
It appears, however, from the utility companies' statements that they don't full understand why they were ordered to cut power without warning.
"Cleco and MISO are working together to investigate the cause of the outage and prevent similar incidents in the future," Cleco said in a statement about shutting off power to some 25,000 Northshore customers.
Entergy also released a statement suggesting the power provider didn't understand why they were ordered to turn off electricity to about 75,000 customers.
"Entergy continues to work with MISO to understand their directive yesterday to suddenly shed load," Entergy released Sunday.
Meyerkopf did send out what information AAE was able to gather. It included the following:
1. Why did the power go out for nearly 100,000 Louisianans on May 25, 2025?
An Entergy-operated nuclear power plant unexpectedly went offline, meaning it was not providing power to the grid; this happened while another Entergy nuclear plant was offline Sunday for scheduled routine maintenance.
The weather was likely hotter than models predicted, which resulted in more power demand than was available.
To prevent wider-spread blackouts or grid failures, MISO ordered Entergy to load shed.
2. What is MISO?
Louisiana is a part of a multi-state organization called the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO). This independent organization was approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in 2001 for the purpose of coordinating the dispatch of the most affordable power generating resources to meet the demand for electricity across 15 states, and to independently assess the transmission grid for upgrades needed to deliver electricity to consumers more affordably, reliably and efficiently.
In short, MISO is responsible for planning and coordinating generation and transmission of electricity to ensure the lights stay on across its region, spanning from South Louisiana to Canada.
3. What is Load Shedding?
This particular power outage was due to a “load shed event,” which is a last-resort controlled power outage ordered by the Midcontinent System Operator (MISO), the regional grid operator, in order to prevent larger, uncontrolled blackouts. It’s a way to balance supply and demand for our power grid.
The grid works like a highway system, and like highway systems, when demands on the road system exceed the number of lanes, they are accompanied by traffic jams (and in this case, blackouts). Without enough “lanes” for electricity to move from producers to customers, “load pockets” are created – which increase costs for consumers and can make the grid more vulnerable to failures. Sunday’s outage was a demonstration of what can go wrong when there is not enough transmission to handle that “traffic.”
New Orleans and Louisiana, as well as much of the South, are areas where electricity demand is consistently very high, particularly during hot days when everyone is running their air conditioners (in addition to industrial electricity demand, which is also very high in Louisiana).
When local demand exceeds local power supply, and there aren’t enough transmission lines to connect with power generation outside of these localized areas, these imbalances can threaten the grid at large – leading to load shedding to prevent larger blackouts or grid failures.
4. How is it decided whose power goes out during a load shedding event?
It is important to understand: while MISO can order load shedding to take place to protect the grid, MISO does not decide where load shedding happens. That is a decision made by the local utilities. We currently do not know how power companies determine which areas experience an outage. Our regulators can demand that power companies share how these decisions are made.
5. What should the New Orleans City Council and Louisiana Public Service Commission do now?
Demand transparency. The City Council and LPSC should demand that Entergy and Cleco share all available information to understand how this event happened. Work with other regulators in MISO south to determine a pathway forward for regional transmission planning.
Demand clear, proactive communication. Require power companies communicate not only to those impacted by power outages, but to all consumers so that where possible consumers can reduce their demand on the grid so as to avoid larger outages.
Require robust Energy Efficiency programs. Part of the problem we face in Louisiana is that our homes and businesses “need” more energy than we use, in large part because of a lack of investment in making buildings more energy efficient. Currently, individuals can seek out energy efficiency upgrades–whether by replacing appliances or making improvements to buildings that prevent energy waste–but there is no statewide program to ensure everyone is getting the benefits they are entitled to as ratepayers. Unfortunately, the Louisiana Public Service Commission just voted to cancel contracts to establish such a program, which would have saved people money and improved the reliability of our grid.
Demand swift regional transmission planning. It is the responsibility of our regulators to demand regional transmission planning. Expanding transmission capacity takes time, and we can not wait any longer for transmission planning to begin. The longer we wait to begin transmission planning, the longer consumers remain vulnerable to load shed events like we experienced on May 25th.
6. How do we prevent events like this in the future?
There are a number of steps that Louisiana and New Orleans must take:
Expand transmission capacity between MISO South and MISO North, so that electricity produced anywhere can be delivered quickly and efficiently to the communities that need it most, while also alleviating “load pockets.” This will result in more highway lanes to move more power when it is needed.
Begin long-term regional planning in MISO South states. Corporations like Entergy have long fought efforts to do this–because it could negatively affect their bottom line by forcing them to compete with other electricity producers–and the LPSC and New Orleans City Council have often had their backs in doing so. It’s time we put the people of Louisiana and New Orleans first – increasing transmission means we will be better protected from grid failures and will also help to bring down costs.
Expand and invest in locally available renewable energy and battery storage systems. Making these investments would make locally generated power available if and when something goes wrong, whether because of bad weather or unexpected generator failures.
Hold our locally elected regulators accountable. Louisiana and New Orleans both elect their regulators – each Louisiana resident is represented by a member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission, and New Orleans City Council members regulate Entergy New Orleans. Utility regulation can feel complicated – but we are all meant to have a say in how our system works.
Demand more information about how this emergency was caused. Reportedly, the order from MISO for load shedding was provided on extremely short notice to Entergy, which led to much of the confusion we see today. Regulators should have MISO explain why conditions deteriorated so quickly.
You also might be wondering:
Why are New Orleans and Louisiana in MISO?
What role do local regulators play?
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About The Alliance for Affordable Energy
Since 1985, The Alliance for Affordable Energy has been working to ensure affordable, equitable
and environmentally responsible energy policy for ALL Louisiana energy consumers. As Louisiana’s
only dedicated Watchdog we monitor, educate, and participate in state and city utility regulation to
ensure the public's best interests.