Trending...
- ResC4EU Final Event at KOMPOZYT-EXPO 2026 – Building Resilient European Supply Chains
- City of Tacoma Invites Community Members to Share Their Experience Crossing I-5
- City of Tacoma Awarded Competitive State Grant to Evaluate Residential Development Regulations and Permit Processing Times
NEW ORLEANS - Washingtoner -- Nearly a week after Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana on Sunday, August 29, over 700,000 residents in Louisiana are still without power. Gas shortages in the region are leaving even those with access to generators sweltering and in the dark. An emerging approach to climate disaster response has deployed to New Orleans – a solar cavalry, armed with trailers outfitted with solar panels and battery storage.
Footprint Project, a Minneapolis-based non-profit organization, along with their for-profit subsidiary Rent.Solar, is on the ground in Louisiana with four solar trailers and 60 portable charging stations. Their mobile solar paired with battery storage will create microgrids to power relief efforts already on the ground within the region.
In a coincidental turn of events, Footprint Project and Rent.Solar found themselves fully staged and ready to deploy to Louisiana from Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, TN. The event was suddenly cancelled due to waterlogged festival grounds from the hurricane's continued path throughout the southeast. Both organizations had programming and rental contracts with Bonnaroo this year.
"We were tracking Ida while loading into Bonnaroo and immediately began strategizing about how we could deploy while still fulfilling our festival contract," said Will Heegaard, Operations Director at Footprint Project. The event announced its cancellation two days after Ida made landfall in Louisiana.
More on Washingtoner
Footprint Project's mission is to provide cleaner energy for communities in crisis. Through their for-profit subsidiary Rent.Solar, Footprint supports that mission by renting out their mobile solar equipment to events like Bonnaroo. "While it's incredibly unfortunate for everyone involved that the festival couldn't go on this year, the ability to get down to communities in need of critical power with such speed and agility is the real reason we do this work," said Heegaard.
On the ground since Friday, September 3, Footprint has so far powered up the NOLA VFW which is distributing 500 meals a day to the community, and Imagine Water Works which leads the Mutual Aid Response Group of Louisiana. Footprint is still building a list of sites requesting power to be triaged and prioritized based on need and service. They are also sourcing additional solar equipment from industry partners around the country to arrive in Louisiana over the coming days. The mobile microgrids will be deployed at sites throughout the area, including community centers, medical centers, and fire stations. Parking lots and street corners identified as high need areas by local partners will also be targeted for cell phone charging, medical and mobility devices, and battery shares.
"We're incredibly grateful to all our partners and supporters for helping us build back greener in Louisiana," said Heegaard.
###
About Us
Footprint Project's mission is to help communities build back greener after environmental disasters. Footprint Project has extensive experience designing, building and deploying solar trailers for emergency use, mobilizing pools of distributed clean energy assets to support disaster first responders and meet emergency power needs. We help relief groups integrate sustainable technologies into their missions through hands-on training, design, and deployment support. In 2019, FP deployed mobile solar stations to 5 environmental disasters, distributed over 1,200 solar panels, donated 2 solar trailers to first responders, and launched our Solar Energy Rapid Response Team (SERRT). Since January 2020, FP volunteers were some of the first to respond following the January earthquake in Puerto Rico, deploying ten mobile solar generators to power device recharging, medical equipment, and lighting. In Matamoros, Mexico, Footprint provided a solar tent and trailer for a field hospital to power Global Response Management's COVID-19 clinic, serving 2,500 asylum seekers in the encampment. In Tennessee and Iowa, where extreme weather left neighborhoods in the dark for days, Footprint provided direct clean energy access to over 2,000 citizens. Overall, providing direct access to emergency solar recharging for over 12,500 people during grid outages.
More on Washingtoner
Press Contact:
Will Heegaard, Director, Footprint Project
will@footprintproject.org
+1 612 701 5400
Deployment Partners:
Bonnaroo Works Fund
DER Task Force
Information Technology Disaster Resource Center
Lightwave Solar
New Use Energy
Pedego E-Bikes Chattanooga
NOLA VFW
Schneider Electric
United Solar Initiave Inc.
Footprint Project, a Minneapolis-based non-profit organization, along with their for-profit subsidiary Rent.Solar, is on the ground in Louisiana with four solar trailers and 60 portable charging stations. Their mobile solar paired with battery storage will create microgrids to power relief efforts already on the ground within the region.
In a coincidental turn of events, Footprint Project and Rent.Solar found themselves fully staged and ready to deploy to Louisiana from Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, TN. The event was suddenly cancelled due to waterlogged festival grounds from the hurricane's continued path throughout the southeast. Both organizations had programming and rental contracts with Bonnaroo this year.
"We were tracking Ida while loading into Bonnaroo and immediately began strategizing about how we could deploy while still fulfilling our festival contract," said Will Heegaard, Operations Director at Footprint Project. The event announced its cancellation two days after Ida made landfall in Louisiana.
More on Washingtoner
- Hannk And Zubie Join Forces To Shape The Next Generation Of Connected Vehicle Telematics
- Coinfiliate Launches Platform to Helps Shoppers Earn Cashback and Creators Earn Referral Rewards
- CinderLabs Launches AIRA Governance MCP, Putting Live AI Compliance Posture Inside Claude
- Holiday Gambling Spending Expected to Rise 12% in December
- RAS AP Consulting Issues National Compliance Alert and Launches Q4 2026 AP Readiness Program Ahead of IRS FIRE → IRIS Cutover
Footprint Project's mission is to provide cleaner energy for communities in crisis. Through their for-profit subsidiary Rent.Solar, Footprint supports that mission by renting out their mobile solar equipment to events like Bonnaroo. "While it's incredibly unfortunate for everyone involved that the festival couldn't go on this year, the ability to get down to communities in need of critical power with such speed and agility is the real reason we do this work," said Heegaard.
On the ground since Friday, September 3, Footprint has so far powered up the NOLA VFW which is distributing 500 meals a day to the community, and Imagine Water Works which leads the Mutual Aid Response Group of Louisiana. Footprint is still building a list of sites requesting power to be triaged and prioritized based on need and service. They are also sourcing additional solar equipment from industry partners around the country to arrive in Louisiana over the coming days. The mobile microgrids will be deployed at sites throughout the area, including community centers, medical centers, and fire stations. Parking lots and street corners identified as high need areas by local partners will also be targeted for cell phone charging, medical and mobility devices, and battery shares.
"We're incredibly grateful to all our partners and supporters for helping us build back greener in Louisiana," said Heegaard.
###
About Us
Footprint Project's mission is to help communities build back greener after environmental disasters. Footprint Project has extensive experience designing, building and deploying solar trailers for emergency use, mobilizing pools of distributed clean energy assets to support disaster first responders and meet emergency power needs. We help relief groups integrate sustainable technologies into their missions through hands-on training, design, and deployment support. In 2019, FP deployed mobile solar stations to 5 environmental disasters, distributed over 1,200 solar panels, donated 2 solar trailers to first responders, and launched our Solar Energy Rapid Response Team (SERRT). Since January 2020, FP volunteers were some of the first to respond following the January earthquake in Puerto Rico, deploying ten mobile solar generators to power device recharging, medical equipment, and lighting. In Matamoros, Mexico, Footprint provided a solar tent and trailer for a field hospital to power Global Response Management's COVID-19 clinic, serving 2,500 asylum seekers in the encampment. In Tennessee and Iowa, where extreme weather left neighborhoods in the dark for days, Footprint provided direct clean energy access to over 2,000 citizens. Overall, providing direct access to emergency solar recharging for over 12,500 people during grid outages.
More on Washingtoner
- Spokane Police Respond to Fatal Stabbing in Northeast Spokane
- Claude Zdanow named Managing Director in Miami, Florida
- Pregis Launches Sharp InfinX: On-Demand Rightsized Mailing System Delivering a Precision-Sized Mailer for Every Order
- netElastic Announces vBNG And CGNAT 2.0 General Availability
- Intelligence Daily Features "Producer Kirk Shaw: 90 Seconds to Make You Care"
Press Contact:
Will Heegaard, Director, Footprint Project
will@footprintproject.org
+1 612 701 5400
Deployment Partners:
Bonnaroo Works Fund
DER Task Force
Information Technology Disaster Resource Center
Lightwave Solar
New Use Energy
Pedego E-Bikes Chattanooga
NOLA VFW
Schneider Electric
United Solar Initiave Inc.
Source: Footprint Project
Filed Under: Government
0 Comments
Latest on Washingtoner
- Guardian Data Opens 42,000-Square-Foot Moonachie Facility, Doubling New Jersey Capacity
- Spokane: Indigenous Peoples' Day Is Oct. 12
- SecureMaine 2026 is Here -- Thursday October 8th!
- Tacoma: Homicide Investigation – 800 Pacific Avenue
- HW Foundation Opens Nominations for Inaugural 50 Under 50 in AI; Deadline Oct. 16
- Pavillon 30 Years of Addiction Recovery in Western North Carolina, Earns National Accreditation
- Safer Spokane
- Spokane: Special Investigation Unit Seized Large Amounts of Cash and Cocaine
- Spokane: U.S. Conference of Mayors, American Beverage Foundation Visit Youth Wellness Zone
- Spokane: Disabled Smoke Alarm Contributes to Fatal Tiki Lodge Fire
- Spokane Police Investigate Fatal Fire With Fire Department
- Spokane: SPD and SFD Respond to Early Morning Fire in Downtown Apartments
- City To Simplify Services by Routing Non-Emergency Police, Fire Calls through Spokane 311
- ResC4EU Final Event at KOMPOZYT-EXPO 2026 – Building Resilient European Supply Chains
- Tacoma: Update Fourth Homicide Arrest – 2100 block of N 30th St
- City of Tacoma Invites Community Members to Share Their Experience Crossing I-5
- Statement from Tacoma Chief of Police Patti Jackson on Understanding the Office of Independent Investigations (OII)
- Tacoma: 2026 AMOCAT Arts Award Winners Announced
- City of Tacoma Awarded Competitive State Grant to Evaluate Residential Development Regulations and Permit Processing Times
- City of Tacoma to Host 'Picture Pac Ave' Code Update Open House on October 20