UL will create Community Resilience Hubs, which will be part of a network to help communities maintain access to electricity and key services during disasters.
Source: The Daily Advertiser
Energy
The company will tap the University for a large portion of the workforce at the facility, where high-performance photovoltaic (PV) solar modules will be produced. Initial projections call for construction to be completed in 2026.
Source: KATC
News of the plan surprised some renewable energy advocates who expected LUS to replace the coal-sourced power with solar energy.
Source: Louisiana Illuminator
A Metairie-based oil company that’s one of the largest independent operators still working in the state’s shallow coastal waters has filed for bankruptcy protection, leaving dozens of south Louisiana service and supply companies facing potential bankruptcies of their own.
Source: The Advocate
COLUMN: Uncertainty the only constant for Lafayette’s economy
The latest economic output data indicates Lafayette is still in flux as it recovers from the economic impact of the pandemic. We’re gaining ground, but not as quickly as we need.
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From 2020 to the end of the second quarter, they’ll have reaped more than $85 billion, according to estimates, and the gains are forecast to continue at least through the rest of this year.
It’s a vindication of the sector’s new business model that prizes profits over production growth. For consumers, it’s a sign that shale is no longer willing to fund money-losing drilling projects that ensured years of ample crude and natural gas supplies.
Source: Bloomberg
COLUMN: Why I’m still bullish about Lafayette’s future
Lafayette can’t count on the industries that have powered its growth in the past. We need to pivot, and we have the tools to do it.
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Data from the first quarter of the year has UL economist Gary Wagner forecasting a bad situation getting worse for Louisiana’s economy:
The state’s real gross domestic product fell by 4.3% on an annualized basis in the first quarter of this year, almost three times steeper than the U.S. economy. Only five other states posted a sharper contraction.
“It’s probably hard to imagine a report that’s worse right now,” said Gary Wagner, an economist at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, who found declines in almost every state and many industries. “I think there’s a 50-50 chance we’re in a recession.”
Source: nola.com
High fuel prices won’t bring jobs to Louisiana because oil companies won’t drill, expert says
The energy sector, in Louisiana and the world at large, is still recovering from the decline in demand from the coronavirus pandemic combined with supply collusion from foreign oil suppliers
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Brief: War in Ukraine surged oil prices. What does that mean for Louisiana?
We could see more activity in Acadiana from the service and manufacturing companies, but we’re still going to have higher prices, say two local economists.
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‘Extinction isn’t political.’ AcA exhibit puts Lafayette face-to-face with climate change
Brandon Ballengée’s “Art of Loneliness” offers an emotional preview to a world without the diverse creatures that bring us such wonder now.
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Louisiana’s economy is changing. What does that mean for you?
Over the next month, The Current will host a series of Listening Sessions with folks on the front lines. We want to bring together people with different, even opposing, views to dig deeper into this important discussion.
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