Experts at Forum Discuss Costs, Ways to Better Prepare and Recover
BATON ROUGE, La – Development and
changing weather patterns will mean more intense storms that will deliver
increasingly more economic harm to the Gulf Coast area, says widely recognized
Louisiana economist, Dr. Loren Scott.
Scott was one of more than a dozen
experts and local leaders who made presentations or participated in panel
discussions during Thursday’s Louisiana Coastal Resilience Forum. Sponsored by
Louisiana State University and Entergy Louisiana, LLC, the forum brought leaders
together to present the results of several studies related to how major storms,
such as hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike, can impact the Gulf Coast
economically through recovery costs and job losses. Experts also made
presentations and discussed how to make South Louisiana more resilient, or
better able to withstand the effects of the storms and recover from them
afterward.
“A healthy Gulf Coast that can
survive and recover from the storms to which we are prone is key to a developing
economy in South Louisiana and the nation,” said Bill Mohl, president and chief
executive officer of Entergy Louisiana and Entergy Gulf States Louisiana. “The
petrochemical industry and port are our economic engines and also are vital
supply points for the rest of the United States. Entergy has taken a keen
interest in understanding how storms impact the Gulf Coast. We recognize the
need for a framework and fact base to quantify risks and develop economically
sensible investment approaches to address the risk and build a resilient Gulf
Coast.”
The forum, however, did more than
discuss storm damage in broad regional terms. Dennis Dawsey, Entergy’s vice
president of transmission and distribution operations in Louisiana, presented
steps the company proposes to storm harden the Port Fourchon area, that become
the company’s pilot project for this type of activity. Hardening would cover
transmission, distribution and substation facilities with the plan calling for
implementation in three phases over 10 years.
An example of activity would include
replacing 110 poles per year for 10 years; upgrading feeder backbone poles;
upgrading highway crossings with steel poles and adding storm guys and avian
protection.
Jeff Williams, director of climate
consulting for Entergy, presented a report developed through a partnership
between Entergy and America’s WETLAND Foundation that looks at current and
future risks from wind, flooding and sea level rise. The study identified $2
trillion in assets located along the Gulf Coast at risk by storms — assets that
produce $634 billion in gross domestic product. The study found that by 2030,
average annual expected losses that are today $852 million in the Terrebonne and
Lafourche parish area, could increase by 50 percent driven largely by asset
growth, subsidence, sea level rise, flooding and storm-surge damage.
The study went on to cite the
importance of investing in resilience measures that when put into place will
reduce economic losses cost effectively and also make coastal communities more
resilient. Williams said the purpose of conducting the studies and presenting
them in public forums is to engage the communities Entergy serves in identifying
cost-effective investments to manage current and future risks.
“We hope that our customers stand
shoulder to shoulder with Entergy as we work together toward making our
communities more resilient,” Williams said.
Loren C. Scott & Associates, under
the auspices of Dr. Loren Scott, measured the economic effects of storms at 2010
and 2030 levels of activity. He found that in addition to property damage,
average annual losses from wind, flooding and storm surge currently cost the
Terrebonne and Lafourche parish area $1.1 billion in lost business sales and
$290 million in lost wages. By 2030, these average annual losses are expected to
grow to $1.3 billion in lost business sales and $360 million in lost wages.
Scott also said there are
cost-effective investments that can be made to reduce some of these losses.
Specifically, investments in hardening electric sector transmission &
distribution assets against storms provides more than $1 returned for each $1
invested. “In fact, the annual rate of return to the area economy from T&D asset
hardening investments in the utility sector (and the associated reductions in
power outages) at maturity is 31.9 percent with no climate change, 40.6 percent
with low climate change, and 43.6 percent with high climate change.”
Entergy’s Louisiana utility companies
serve more than one million customers through the operating companies Entergy
Louisiana, LLC and Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, L.L.C. With operations in
southern, central and northeastern Louisiana, the companies are part of Entergy
Corporation’s electric system serving 2.8 million customers in Louisiana,
Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas.
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entergylouisiana.com
Twitter: @EntergyLA
