MISO Responds to Jefferson Parish Council Over May 25th Power Outage
MISO has addressed a letter from the Jefferson Parish Council concerning the May 25th power outage that impacted over 100,000 residents in areas like Mid-City, Lakeview, Metairie, and Terrytown. The outage resulted from a load shed event, a measure considered a last resort by MISO operators who attempted alternative solutions beforehand. The load shed was deemed necessary to avert more extensive damage and further power disruptions.
The incident stemmed from a combination of planned and unplanned generator outages. MISO provided a map illustrating the locations of generator failures and previously damaged generators that contributed to the emergency.
A detailed timeline revealed the rapid sequence of events, with the emergency declared at 4 p.m. and the load shed directive issued just two minutes later at 4:02 p.m. Contact with Entergy and Cleco to initiate the load shedding process occurred at 4:21 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., respectively.
MISO acknowledged in its response that the notification provided to power companies was insufficient and has pledged to refine communication procedures to enhance future responses.