New Orleans Public Schools get Solar Energy Through Corp "Green" Partnership

Partners Entergy, Nike, Winrock International, the Louisiana Chapter of the U.S.  Green Building Council and the city of New Orleans are equipping New Orleans public schools with 28-kilowatt solar array that is expected to produce about 37,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. That is enough electricity to power three average residential homes.

"Entergy is committed to helping rebuild our community in a way that is environmentally sustainable," said Rod West, president and CEO of Entergy New Orleans, Inc. "We are proud to be the lead sponsor of the New Orleans Solar Schools Initiative, which supports the benefits of clean, alternative energy and energy conservation, and even more importantly teaches those benefits to our children - our future leaders."


The project includes an instructional component that will help educate both students and teachers about conservation and renewable energy. Students will use the solar equipment as a first-hand learning tool to research and report on how energy conservation can integrate with solar power.



The New Orleans Solar School Initiative originated with Entergy's purchase of carbon offsets - registered on Winrock International's American Carbon Registry - from Nike in 2006. The transaction was part of Entergy's long-range plan to stabilize CO2 emissions 20 percent year 2000 levels through 2010. Nike donated $150,000 of the proceeds from the sale of the carbon offsets, and Entergy committed up to $1.5 million - part of which is tied to an agreement with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission - to install solar systems at New Orleans public schools.

Read the full press release here.