New Orleans' mayor is defending the city's role as host after a power outage plunged the Super Bowl into 34 minutes of darkness, baffling authorities who are bringing in a consultant to help find the cause.

The outage embarrassed New Orleans as it sought to showcase its rebound from Hurricane Katrina. Documents show it occurred despite hundreds of thousands of dollars of recent improvements to decaying utility lines.

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu sought to put a positive spin on the puzzling power outage at a news conference Tuesday, saying the city's host role was near flawless until the lights-out episode.

He says the city plans to bid for Super Bowl 2018. It has hosted 10 Super Bowls, the last in 2002 three years before Katrina devastated the city.