SolarRisk Tracker / Explore / LA / Orleans Parish

Orleans Parish County, LA — Solar Development Risk Assessment

Local solar ordinance barriers, board sentiment, and utility policies that affect development timelines and risk.

62.8
Risk Grade
Poor
Consolidated city-parish; New Orleans seat; Entergy Louisiana MISO grid; entirely urban coastal environment with zero viable utility-scale solar land; historic districts, FEMA flood zones, and dense urban fabric eliminate all utility-scale siting options; extreme hurricane vulnerability (Katrina 2005, Ida 2021) elevates structural and insurance compliance requirements; rooftop solar deployment present but no ground-mount utility-scale; D-grade reflects urban density eliminating viable land, high compliance complexity, coastal hurricane risk, and effectively closed development pathway
Assessment Snapshot
Population
383997
State Rank
#42
Compliance
75%
Trajectory
65

Moratorium Status

✓ No Active Moratorium
No specific moratorium information available.

Ordinance & Regulations

Setback Requirements
N/A — no viable utility-scale sites; urban lot coverage and historic district restrictions govern all parcels
Zoning Mechanism
Conditional Use Permit (CUP) — New Orleans City Planning Commission; no viable utility-scale solar sites in parish
Acreage Caps
None established
Spacing Rules
None established
Size Restrictions
None established

Board Sentiment & Political Risk

Sentiment Analysis
High Opposition — urban advocacy, historic preservation, and neighborhood associations uniformly oppose any industrial-scale land use; City Council politically progressive but land physically unavailable for utility-scale solar
Basis for Assessment
New Orleans City Planning Commission; Times-Picayune / NOLA.com; Entergy Louisiana; FEMA NFIP; Greater New Orleans Inc.
Political Risk Factors
Stable
Board Members
New Orleans City Council (7 members) — nola.gov

Grid, Utilities & State Context

Grid Operator
MISO / Entergy Louisiana
Utilities
Entergy Louisiana
State Permitting Process
Parish zoning authority; no state solar preemption; conditional use permit typically required for utility-scale (>1 MW); no mandatory decommissioning bond statewide (some parishes require it)
State Incentives
Federal ITC eligible; Louisiana sales tax exemption for solar equipment; Louisiana property tax exemption for solar; no state income tax credit for commercial solar

Development Activity

Active/Completed Projects
None known — no utility-scale solar projects in Orleans Parish
Denied/Withdrawn Projects
None known

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Last verified: 2026-04-02 | SolarRisk Tracker | Data sources: Government records, utility filings, public meeting minutes