Community Lighthouses across Louisiana are generating zero-emission energy and strengthening neighborhood-level resilience.
Community Lighthouses—already the nation’s largest network of solar+storage resilience hubs—provide commercial-scale solar power and back-up battery capacity to congregations and community institutions throughout Louisiana. During extended power outages, they immediately assess need and aid area residents. They’re also creating a brighter future by connecting people and creating high-wage jobs.
19
Active Community Lighthouses
1974
Battery Power Capaicty
$230K
All time energy bill savings
FEATURED LIGHTHOUSE
Showing what community resilience looks like when disaster strikes.
When Winter Storm Fern brought dangerous cold, outages, road closures, and water system disruptions across northern Louisiana, Delta Interfaith leaders moved quickly to check on residents, open warming centers, and connect vulnerable households to support.
THE RESPONSE
Delta Interfaith opened warming centers and delivered support during Winter Storm Fern.
After Winter Storm Fern hit North Louisiana, Delta Interfaith opened two warming centers at Grace Episcopal Church and Together for Hope House, where residents could get warm, share a meal, and charge their phones. Leaders also prepared portable battery systems for households with medical devices that needed power, showing how trusted local institutions can become lifelines during emergencies.
Opened two local warming centers
Helped residents warm up, eat, and charge phones
Supported households dependent on powered medical devices
Demonstrated the need for neighborhood-based resilience infrastructure
Warming center check-in during Winter Storm Fern.
Billions Spent, Lives Lost: The Price of a Fragile Power Grid
Power outages, fueled by increasingly intense storms and greater extremes of heat and cold, are now the leading cause of disaster-related death across the Gulf Coast. After each disaster, billions are spent rebuilding the same overly centralized electrical grid, leaving communities no safer. The urgency of the challenge demands immediate action.
Lack of Connection, Increased Vulnerability
A steady breakdown of social connection at the neighborhood level, especially in disadvantaged communities, exacerbates the threat. This social isolation leaves people with fewer resources, less information, and a reduced ability to work together, making recovery much more difficult.
Shining a Light on a Fragile Grid
Hurricane Ida’s impact in 2021 left over 1 million homes and businesses in Louisiana without power, with outages lasting for weeks in some areas. The storm highlighted the vulnerability of the state’s centralized power grid, sparking conversations about the need for a more resilient, decentralized energy system.
2024 Hurricane Fern Disaster Relief Response
A Strategy for Creating Power
An initiative of Together Louisiana, the Community Lighthouse project provides commercial-scale solar power and back-up battery capacity to congregations and community institutions throughout the state. During extended power outages, they immediately assess need and aid area residents. And that’s not all…