Climate solution: In the swelter of hurricane blackouts, some churches stay cool on clean power
- by Associated Press
- Sep 26, 2024
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A growing string of churches are getting solar panels plus battery backup and are staying up and running — and even cool — in the swelter of post-hurricane blackouts. (AP Video: Jack Brook)
It was formed after Hurricane Katrina
wrecked two churches in 2005 – one historically white and one historically Black. They merged because members felt they could do more for the community together. These days, the congregation includes immaculately dressed elders and tattooed hipsters in shorts, all rising to sway to the gospel choir on Sundays.
There are reminders of what came before: Images of the old Black church’s stained-glass windows are painted on the inner halls of First Grace, and across the street lies the stump of an old Confederate monument that the congregation advocated to remove.
Pastor Shawn Moses Anglim also helped found the network and remembers his heart sinking when he saw how the terracotta roof on First Grace’s sanctuary had been ripped off by Hurricane Ida. It made him passionate about providing a safe shelter during and after storms.
“We had no power for two weeks and it was hot,” said Anglim. “It’s like having an extra ten pounds of wet clothing and walking around in 90 degree weather. We’ve got to rethink this,” he remembers deciding.
Pastor Shawn Moses Anglim poses for a photo near Tesla batteries at First Grace United Methodist Church that is part of the Community Lighthouse initiative that uses microgrids, a small-scale power system that can operate and provide electricity amid hurricanes, in New Orleans, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)
Fast forward and two weeks ago, when Francine knocked out power, the church’s Tesla batteries kicked in, charged up by the solar panels on the roof. Text alerts notified the surrounding neighborhood and more than 100 people to show up.
Kids ran around with toy trucks and hula hoops. Parents caught a break and ate plates of jambalaya. Diego James, 14, plugged in his phone, played the church piano and helped distribute snacks. People could plug in dialysis machines. Others who didn’t know each other chatted around the outlets.
“It gave that real sense of community that is so vital in life, especially in a crisis,” Anglim said. “People care about each other.”
Equipped with solar panels and Tesla batteries, First Grace United Methodist Church, visible background left, is part of the Community Lighthouse initiative that uses microgrids, a small-scale power system that can operate and provide electricity amid hurricanes, in New Orleans, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)
The state’s largest solar-plus-battery microgrid, New Wine Christian Fellowship, is in LaPlace, about a half hour drive west of New Orleans. New Wine is in St. John the Baptist Parish — the U.S. county ranked most vulnerable to climate change by the 2023 Climate Vulnerability Index. Pastor Neil Bernard has seen the impacts of climate change in his community, including homes destroyed by floods and health problems exacerbated by extreme heat. Bernard estimated during Francine, around 20 people came to stay overnight. He has room for 900 cots.
The Community Lighthouse Project has received $8.6 million from several cities in Louisiana, Sandia National Laboratory, and a congressional allocation secured by Congressman Troy Carter. Additional funding is in the pipeline and will bring the total to $13 million.
Arthur Lee is president of Bethlehem Lutheran Church, another microgrid. He said people in New Orleans are having to deal with power outages all the time, and they’re profoundly chaotic, even unsafe.
“When your power goes out, your world is shaken up, your loved ones are upset, you’re upset … everything is dark. But then they come to a safe beacon,” Lee said.
___O’Malley reported from Philadelphia, Brook from New Orleans.
___The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards
for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org
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