Baton Rouge Energy Guide: Solar, Batteries, Backup Power and EV

In short: Most Baton Rouge homes are on Entergy Louisiana, which charged about 11¢ per kWh in 2024 and pays about 2.6¢ for exported solar. DEMCO, the co-op serving parts of East Baton Rouge and Ascension, pays a little more. FEMA rates hurricanes, tornadoes and lightning “very high” in East Baton Rouge, so backup comes first.

This page covers Baton Rouge, Prairieville and Gonzales. For statewide rules, contractor licensing and Louisiana’s averages, see our Louisiana energy guide. Here we focus on the two local utilities, recent storms, what solar is worth on each, and the city and parish permit rules.

Baton Rouge at a glance

• Entergy Louisiana: about 11.1¢ per kWh for homes (2024 average). Company-wide outages in 2024: 213 minutes per customer on normal days, 610 minutes counting major storms (EIA-861).
• DEMCO (Dixie Electric Membership Corporation): listed by EIA in East Baton Rouge and Ascension parishes; about 11.9¢ per kWh; 237 outage minutes in 2024, almost all of it on normal days (235 minutes), with about 4.8 interruptions per customer.
• Sun: 4.67 kWh per square meter per day (NASA POWER, 2001 to 2020), about 1,360 kWh a year per kW of panels by our rough estimate.
• Top hazards: hurricanes, lightning and tornadoes rated “very high” in East Baton Rouge Parish, with cold waves, hail, heat waves, inland flooding and ice storms “relatively high” (FEMA National Risk Index).
• Public charging: 159 public ports in Baton Rouge and 23 in Gonzales (AFDC, October 3, 2026).

Your utility and what it means

Entergy Louisiana. The Louisiana Public Service Commission’s rules apply. Solar you use as it is produced saves the full retail price; each kWh you export earns the avoided-cost rate, $0.0259 per kWh from April 1, 2025, and your bill can fall to the fixed charge but no lower. Systems installed by the end of 2019 keep retail net metering until December 31, 2034, even if the house is sold, but a major change to the system ends that. Details are on Entergy Louisiana’s net metering page.

Entergy Louisiana customers are also paying for its grid resilience plan: phase one, approved by the LPSC in April 2024, covers about 2,100 projects and roughly $1.9 billion over five years. Entergy estimated the bill rider for a home using 1,000 kWh a month would start around 57¢ and reach about $7 a month by year five. For EV drivers, Entergy’s eTech program lists a $250 incentive for an ENERGY STAR Level 2 home charger.

DEMCO. DEMCO lists an avoided-cost rate of $0.03847 per kWh for March 2026 to February 2027, applied to excess energy from net meters installed since 2020, and updates it every March. Members with systems installed before 2020 are credited at full retail. Confirm current terms with DEMCO before you sign; we could not open its site directly.

Backup power in Baton Rouge

When Hurricane Francine came ashore on September 11, 2024, Entergy named Ascension Parish among its hardest-hit areas, alongside Assumption, Lafourche and Terrebonne, and ran its statewide storm response from a command center in Baton Rouge. It restored 90% of affected customers within three days. In January 2025 the Capital Region saw record snow, up to a foot at some sites, yet Entergy Louisiana reported a peak of only about 6,500 outages. The lesson: plan for both a multi-day hurricane outage and a hard freeze.

• Hours: a portable power station keeps phones, a CPAP, lights and a fan going.
• A day or two: a home battery on essential circuits, recharged by solar once the sky clears.
• Days: a standby generator on natural gas or propane, or a portable unit with a transfer switch. Size it with the generator sizing tool; central air needs a large unit.

The city-parish fee schedule lists a residential generator permit at $500, so budget for it. Since January 2023, Louisiana’s construction code requires carbon monoxide alarms in each bedroom and the living area when a standby generator is installed outside. Never run a portable generator in a garage or near open windows. Compare options in backup power and generator installation.

Solar in Baton Rouge

Each kW of panels makes about 1,360 kWh a year here by our estimate. On Entergy Louisiana, that is worth about $150 a year if every kWh replaces power you would buy, but only about $35 if it is all exported at 2.6¢. On DEMCO, the same kW is worth about $160 used at home or about $52 exported. These are estimates, not promises, and the gap is the point: size the system to what you use in daylight, or add a battery to keep the surplus.

Baton Rouge’s permit office wants proof that the racking can withstand a 105 mph wind load, which is a useful check on any quote. The federal 25D credit ended for systems completed after 2025. Try the solar potential calculator and read solar costs and solar installation.

Home batteries in Baton Rouge

With exports at 2.6¢ on Entergy Louisiana and under 4¢ on DEMCO, storing midday solar for the evening is worth far more than selling it. A battery also keeps essentials running when the grid is down, which grid-tied solar alone cannot do. EIA counted 1,315 net-metered home solar systems at DEMCO in 2024 and none paired with a battery, so many existing systems could add one. If you have a pre-2020 system, ask whether adding a battery counts as a material change that would end your grandfathered net metering. See battery installation, home battery cost and the battery backup calculator.

EV charging in Baton Rouge

Baton Rouge has 159 public ports and Gonzales 23. At home, using about 30 kWh per 100 miles, charging costs about $3.30 per 100 miles at Entergy Louisiana’s 2024 average and about $3.60 on DEMCO (estimates). Check the eTech page for the $250 Level 2 charger incentive if you are an Entergy customer. A Level 2 charger needs a 240-volt circuit, a permit and a licensed electrician: see EV charger installation and the EV charging cost calculator.

Drive on another fuel? See every alternative fuel station in Baton Rouge: hydrogen, propane, natural gas, E85 ethanol, biodiesel and renewable diesel.

Permits and inspections

• City of Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge Parish: the Permit and Inspection Division publishes a solar permit information sheet: a plan review, the 105 mph racking documentation, a plot plan showing panels, disconnects, inverter, meters and any batteries, and an electrical riser diagram. Solar permits require a Louisiana-licensed electrical and solar contractor. The fee schedule lists residential solar at $375 and a residential generator at $500.
• Ascension Parish (Prairieville and unincorporated areas): the Building Department takes permits online, with separate generator, solar system and residential electrical applications.
• City of Gonzales: Permits and Licensing takes inspection requests online; requests made after 8 a.m. are done the next business day.

HOA note: Baton Rouge’s solar sheet says the city-parish does not enforce private subdivision restrictions, so get your subdivision association’s approval before you apply. Use a licensed contractor (state license lookup on the Louisiana page); they pull the permit and file the utility’s interconnection application.

Cities we cover

• Baton Rouge
• Prairieville
• Gonzales

Get help in Baton Rouge

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Baton Rouge energy FAQ

Is it Entergy or DEMCO at my address?

Check your bill. EIA lists both utilities in East Baton Rouge and Ascension parishes. The difference matters for solar: Entergy Louisiana pays about 2.6¢ per exported kWh and DEMCO lists about 3.8¢ for 2026, and each has its own interconnection paperwork.

How much is a solar or generator permit in Baton Rouge?

The city-parish fee schedule lists $375 for a residential solar permit and $500 for a residential generator, plus plan review. Fees change, so confirm on the Permit and Inspection Division’s fee page; Ascension Parish and Gonzales set their own.

Does my HOA have to approve solar panels?

The city-parish says it does not enforce private subdivision restrictions, and it asks you to get your association’s approval before you apply. Read your covenants first, especially on panel placement and generator noise or setbacks.

Will adding a battery affect my old net metering?

Possibly. Entergy Louisiana says a material modification to a pre-2020 system means a new interconnection request and the end of grandfathered retail net metering. Ask the utility in writing before you add panels or a battery.

Sources

U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861 for 2024 (sales, reliability, service territories, net metering), read October 3, 2026. Entergy Louisiana net metering page; Entergy eTech; Entergy Hurricane Francine updates (September 2024), winter weather release (January 2025) and resilience plan release (April 2024); DEMCO rate information, read October 3, 2026. City of Baton Rouge Permit and Inspection Division solar sheet and fee schedule; Ascension Parish Building Department; City of Gonzales. FEMA National Risk Index. NASA POWER, 2001 to 2020. AFDC Station Locator, October 3, 2026.