Louisiana Under Federal Emergency Order To Prevent Heat Blackouts

(KMDL-FM) The United States Department of Energy has placed Louisiana and 16 other states under an emergency order that would allow a major utility to activate idle power sources to prevent heatwave-related blackouts. All of Louisiana is currently under a heat advisory, and a loss of power and air conditioning could be fatal for many residents.

The order from USDOE will allow Southwest Power Pool the ability to dispatch generation units and restructure current operations as needed to maintain and provide reliable energy services for customers in the affected areas.

Besides Louisiana, What Other States Could Experience Heat-Related Blackouts?

In addition to Louisiana, the states that are affected by this order are Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.

The Arkansas-based Southern Power Pool is basically "the grid" that oversees power reliability and distribution over the multi-state area. This emergency order would give SPP the authority to direct resources where they are needed.

It also gives SPP authority of "last resort" before declaring an Energy Emergency Alert. Those alerts are issued in three stages, with Level 3 being the most severe. In the case of a Level 3 Alert, that is when SPP could authorize rolling blackouts or when rolling blackouts are already occurring along the power grid.

The current order is in place until August 1st. It is unclear if the Conservative Operations Advisory will be extended. That is highly likely, as extreme temperatures are forecast to remain across much of the affected power grid landscape for the next several weeks.

How Long Is Louisiana's Heatwave Forecast to Last?

According to the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Lake Charles, excessive heat, compliments of a "heat dome" over the area, will remain in place through at least the end of the week. Forecasters suggest that rain chances will help to quell the extreme heat by later this weekend.

Based on that forecast, the expiration of the Emergency Power Order on August 1st should coincide with a break in the extreme heat. As of now, the SPP reported that the power grid is stable, but the area does remain under a Conservative Operations Advisory through at least Saturday, August 1, 2026.