How much is too much? My main responsibility as a member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission is to ensure that the people and businesses of Louisiana have safe, reliable utility service at the lowest possible cost. Giving that assurance requires me to balance the revenue needs of utility companies with the impact of utility […]
There is an old blues song that goes, “You don’t miss your water ‘til the well runs dry.” Soul singer and Shreveport native Rueben Bell recorded a version, as did Otis Redding and others. The songwriter was relating a love lost to how we often take water for granted despite its importance to life. We […]
Customers of Shreveport-based Southwestern Electric Power Co. will be the first in Louisiana to buy their electricity from a renewable power source as part of a statewide experiment sponsored by the Louisiana Public Service Commission. And contrary to historical trends in green power, this electricity will save consumers money rather than be more expensive than […]
On December 14 the Louisiana Public Service Commission will meet for the first time in its 100-year history in the town of Winnfield. This is an important event for the PSC, which sets utility rates for Louisiana consumers. It’s also important for Winnfield, the parish seat of Winn Parish and home to nearly 6,000 people. […]
It is beyond belief that Governor Bobby Jindal would refuse to do everything possible to reverse his administration’s loss of an $80-million federal grant for high-speed Internet service to 21 rural Louisiana parishes and 400,000 people. In the wake of this blunder by the Jindal Administration, I called on the Governor to “put his hat […]
Imagine you could turn back the clock to 1921. That year Louisiana adopted its method for taxing oil and gas. It’s a method that, by and large, is still in use today. In 1921, a loaf of bread cost 12 cents, gas was 10 cents a gallon and a Ford Model T cost $290. Louisiana […]
The Louisiana Public Service Commission missed an opportunity to hold the state’s largest telecommunications company accountable for poor service when it favored AT&T’s merger with T-Mobile last month. Over the past 12 months I’ve had 639 telecom complaints in my North Louisiana PSC district, and 593 of them – more than 90 percent – were […]
It’s a simple idea. So simple it makes you wonder when it will become a reality. The idea is a standardized charger for all cellular telephones. Every time you buy a new cellphone, you have to purchase new home and auto chargers to power your phone. This is because the chargers that fit your old […]
One of the fundamental duties of the Governor of Louisiana is to pay the bills. Highways must be paved, state troopers and state employees must be paid, and state hospitals and universities must serve our citizens. State Government is a $26-billion-per-year enterprise. Declines in state revenue have prompted some Governors, including Bobby Jindal, to propose […]