Louisiana assisted living generator law sets a 72 hour backup power minimum

What the Louisiana assisted living generator law requires

A new Louisiana assisted living generator law, signed as Act No. 740, requires every licensed adult residential care provider in the state to run a generator or other backup power source at full load for a minimum of 72 hours. Full load means the backup system must carry every system the law lists at once, not only emergency lighting, including life safety systems, medical equipment, the water and sewer system, medication refrigeration, dietary refrigeration, laundry, and whatever keeps the indoor temperature safe for residents. An adult residential care provider is the license category Louisiana uses for assisted living and similar senior care facilities, so the rule reaches every one of them in the state, not a subset chosen by size or location. No statewide minimum run time existed in Louisiana before this law, now codified as R.S. 40 2166.11.

The law takes effect June 1, 2026. Providers then have until July 1, 2027, to meet the 72 hour requirement, with a possible 12 month extension for a provider that applies and receives approval. The office of the state fire marshal checks compliance. Until then, a resident has no guarantee that life safety systems, medical equipment and refrigerated medication keep running for even a single full day if the power goes out, let alone the full 3 days the law will eventually require.

How the new law compares to Florida and Texas

Florida already asks more of its nursing homes than Louisiana now asks of assisted living. Florida own rule, in place since 2018 after Hurricane Irma, sets a 96 hour minimum for generator capacity and caps indoor temperature in resident areas at 81 degrees Fahrenheit. Florida also requires 72 hours of fuel stored onsite at all times, rising to 96 hours once an emergency is declared, and at least 30 net square feet of temperature controlled space per resident. Steve Bahmer, president and chief executive officer of LeadingAge Southeast, one of the 2 associations that backed the bill, described what the new requirement means for readiness.

This is an important step forward in strengthening preparedness across senior living.

Steve Bahmer, president and chief executive officer of LeadingAge Southeast. Source 1.

Texas takes a different approach. Texas own law, House Bill 3595, sets no statewide generator hour minimum. It instead requires a climate controlled refuge area held between 68 and 82 degrees Fahrenheit, at least 15 square feet per resident, half the space Florida requires, and a separate climate controlled room for bedfast residents. Texas construction and evacuation standards also apply only to new facilities permitted after September 1, 2026, not to every facility already operating the way the new law in Louisiana does.

A bill that passed with broad Senate sponsorship

Reading the enrolled bill directly shows it passed with broad support, not narrow. The final author line lists 20 state senators, led by primary author Glen Womack, not Womack alone. Sharla Alosio, chief executive director of the Mississippi Louisiana Assisted Living Association, the other group that backed the bill, described how that support came together.

We appreciate the ongoing collaboration in meaningful improvements of the bill, helping balance resident safety with practical implementation for ARCP providers across Louisiana.

Sharla Alosio, chief executive director of the Mississippi Louisiana Assisted Living Association. Source 1.

LeadingAge Southeast and the Mississippi Louisiana Assisted Living Association describe the law as a possible model for other states, a hope from the bill own backers, not yet an independently confirmed trend. McKnights Senior Living, which first reported the bill, also names a stalled California attempt at a similar rule and a 2023 recommendation from 2 United States Senate committees urging states to consider emergency power rules for residential care, neither confirmed independently for this article.