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Energy tells Lefouch Parish Council LED streetlight replacements nearly complete; company outlines resiliency plan
Summary
At the Nov. 25 meeting Energy representatives told the Lefouch Parish Council they installed more than 900 new poles in 2025, have fixed about 98% of previously reported outages, and plan nearly 1,000 additional pole replacements in 2026 as part of an LPSC-approved resiliency program funded through customer bills.
Paula Rome, an Energy representative, told the Lefouch Parish Council on Nov. 25 that the utility completed “over 900” new pole installs across Lefouch Parish in 2025 and plans nearly 1,000 additional pole changes in 2026 as part of a resiliency and LED conversion program. She said the company has fixed about 98% of the lights the parish reported and expects the remaining outages to be corrected by the end of the week.
Rome described the funding for the replacements as part of a Louisiana Public Service Commission–approved program she said totals about $1.9 billion statewide and will be recovered through customer bills. “The goal of the resiliency program is to ensure that…these poles are all rated at 150 mile per hour wind,” Rome said, adding that the upgrades are intended to reduce restoration time and long-term storm costs.
Rome and Anna Gail Orana, Energy’s customer-service supervisor, explained the replacement process: crews install a new pole and leave the old “stub” pole in place until communications providers relocate their lines, at which point Energy removes the stub. Customers with privately owned area lights will be handled case-by-case and may remain the resident’s responsibility.
Council members asked how the program is financed and how it will affect customer bills. Orana said the LPSC-approved program will be spread across customers statewide and that Energy can provide a per-customer estimate on request. The presenters also walked through reporting tools: customers who log into Energy’s account app can report an out light and automatically create a work order; Energy’s current commit time for repairs amid the changeout is about 14 days.
Vice Chair Perk and other council members thanked Energy for the work and noted coordination with parish traffic-control efforts during installations. President Ojeron said the administration will revisit the parish’s franchise agreement after the lighting work is completed, a step the council previously agreed would follow Energy meeting its lighting commitments.
Next steps: Energy said most reported outages will be fixed by early December; the parish and Energy plan continued communication about stub-pole removal, neighborhood impacts, and a second phase of replacements that officials said will require further LPSC approval.
