News Release > Entergy New Orleans and Sewerage and Water Board complete agreement for new substation

Entergy New Orleans and Sewerage and Water Board complete agreement for new substation

06/09/2022

NEW ORLEANS – Entergy New Orleans will begin construction on the new Sullivan substation at the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans’ (SWBNO) Carrollton site.

The 60-megawatt Sullivan substation at the SWBNO’s Carrollton facility is expected to be completed by the end of 2023. Once finished, Entergy New Orleans will own, operate, and maintain the substation, which will benefit the SWBNO and all New Orleanians. The dedicated Sullivan substation will increase reliability to the SWBNO by providing service at the transmission level, so they can better support their customers.

“This is an important investment for the City of New Orleans that not only supports normal operations for the Sewerage and Water Board, but the future economic growth in New Orleans. This critical infrastructure project is needed to help support reliable service to the Sewerage and Water Board for generations to come,” said Deanna Rodriguez, President and CEO of Entergy New Orleans. “Providing improved reliability at the transmission level is important to both the Sewerage & Water Board and their customers, who also happen to be our customers.”

“A dedicated electrical substation at the future Sewerage and Water Board’s West Power Complex is important infrastructure for New Orleans and will bring much needed reliability and efficiency,” said SWBNO Executive Director Ghassan Korban. “A substation is part of building a modern power system. In addition to the substation, we are installing new backup turbines to provide in-house redundancy and added protection.”

The Sullivan substation will include two transmission lines and two transformers for redundancy on approximately two acres of land at the Carrollton facility. To increase the resiliency of the site, the substation will be raised to meet the 500-year flood elevation standard. The substation also will support a substantial reduction in the city’s carbon footprint by transitioning from the SWBNO’s self-generation to Entergy New Orleans’ more environmentally friendly generation fleet. This nearly 80 percent reduction in the SWBNO’s carbon emissions provides an opportunity to make a significant contribution to the climate goals set out in the New Orleans City Council’s Renewable and Clean Portfolio Standard.

Today, the New Orleans City Council approved an Agreement in Principle between the SWBNO and Entergy New Orleans, which will allow the project to go forward. Specifically, the agreements require the SWBNO to supply approximately $30 million dollars through two milestone payments, and for Entergy New Orleans to finance the costs of the substation that exceed $30 million, which will be recovered by Entergy New Orleans from the SWBNO through a special rate tariff, which also was approved by the Council as a part of the Agreement in Principle. 

About Entergy New Orleans
Entergy New Orleans, LLC is an electric and gas utility that serves Louisiana’s Orleans Parish. The company provides electricity to more than 209,000 customers and natural gas to more than 110,000 customers. Entergy New Orleans, LLC is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation.

About SWBNO
The history of the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans dates back to 1899. Today, the utility services 140,000 customer accounts and millions of visitors a year.  One of the original “one water” utilities, SWBNO manages drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater. SWBNO recently adopted a five-year strategic plan for the utility, a structured response to the utility’s challenges to guide organizational goals, support budget development, and direct progress monitoring in the organization's long-term focus areas.