Terrebonne plans multi‑year power-plant rebuild to harden utilities after storms

Terrebonne Parish President Jason Bergeron told residents the parish will move ahead on rebuilding its damaged power plant, describing a multi-year process driven by storm recovery obligations and the need to harden critical infrastructure.

Bergeron said the overall rebuild cost is tied to a roughly $170 million project; the parish faces substantial matching requirements and a deductible. "Of the $170 million the parish has to do a $22 million insurance deductible and we have a match of 14 million," he said, describing FEMA cost-share dynamics and the historic 90/10 match discussions shifting toward a possible 75/25 split.

While FEMA has supplied temporary generators that produce about 20 megawatts, Bergeron said the parish has an 80‑megawatt allocation within a 200‑megawatt pocket and must rebuild the plant to sustain essential services — water treatment, hospital and airport operations — without outside feeders in extreme events. He described immediate steps: demolition of cooling towers will begin in the next month or two, followed by an anticipated two‑to‑three‑year construction period.

Why it matters: parish officials framed the rebuild as a resilience priority that will reduce dependence on external suppliers and provide revenue opportunities if the plant produces surplus power to sell. Bergeron also tied the project to broader utility upgrades — pole replacements, substation transformer upgrades and expanded SCADA — intended to improve outage response and grid visibility.

Bergeron emphasized cost oversight and said the administration will seek to avoid passing upgrade costs to residents when possible, especially for infrastructure tied to new private developments.