“I feel your frustration over your high bills,” Commissioner Dr. Craig Greene Fights for Louisiana Utility Customers

Louisiana Public Service Commissioner District 2 Dr. Craig Greene recently addressed a letter to customers about the issue of high utility bills amidst a hot summer urging for policy change of the status quo.

Mouths have been dropping when utility bill envelopes are opened and Commissioner Greene said he is just as frustrated, “I am frustrated because I have been working with my fellow commissioners to fight for policy changes that would empower customers to have a chance to lower their bills, empower customers to potentially choose their provider, empower private investment to compete in Louisiana to provide more affordable power, and ensure utilities are accountable for the reliability and resilience of their distribution grid,” he wrote.

Dr. Greene wrote that despite the fight, he has learned that changing the status quo is the path less traveled. He stated they have been asking two questions; 1. Why should customers have to pay for everything a monopoly asks for 2. Why don’t we allow businesses to compete to provide services? He penned that he has heard from shareholder-owned electric utilities that we have the lowest rates in the country and why would anyone want to disrupt what they’ve always done? “But now, as our electric bills skyrocket, customers are being told that there is nothing these monopolies can do; the price of gas has gone up and it is hot,” he wrote. 

He passionately said that doing nothing is unacceptable and doing the same thing we have done in the past and expecting different results is the definition of insanity, “This is what we know,” he explained, “the shareholder-focused, vertically integrated monopoly model does not incentivize these utilities to do anything to lower their customers’ bills- their shareholders make more money when customers use more electricity.” He went on to say that the same model shifts the volatility and price risk to customers when gas is expensive by flowing all the increased gas costs through to customers. “I am not satisfied with an approach that privatizes all the profits for a monopoly’s shareholders and socializes all the risk to captive customers,” he wrote. He also said that he doesn’t think asking customers to survive in a Louisiana summer by running ACs at 78 degrees is a long-term solution. 

To help bring policy changes, the commissioner suggested using words to help in battle, “I’m asking for your help,” he wrote. Below is a letter template he suggested:

“Dear INSERT LPSC Audience,

My name is [first & last name] and I am a utility customer in Louisiana, and therefore have a voice at the Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC). I am writing to you today because my energy bill is through the roof. Over the past month, it has increased from [X] dollars to [Y] and that is unacceptable. I know you can help by changing the status quo that exists within Louisiana that has allowed customers to bear the burden of all utility spending and alleviate any risk a monopoly utility could have. 

I support the Commission’s effort to:

1. Finish building a statewide, Commission led Energy Efficiency Program so that customers might be given a chance to reduce the amount of electricity they use and pay for while elevating their standard of living. The alternative model, whereby customers pay their utility for lost energy revenue as a result of a customer not using as much electricity is unacceptable.
2. Create opportunities for private investment to risk their capital, with no guarantee of success, to compete to build generation to meet our power needs so that we may diversify our power portfolio, move away from total reliance on one monopoly, and in doing so, know we are getting a better product and price.
3. Research and develop alternative regulatory policies in Louisiana that prioritize delivering the lowest reasonable prices and reliable service to customers. Monopoly utilities’ shareholders’ profits and utilities’ executives’ compensation should be tied to metrics that mean something to customers- lowest reasonable prices and reliable service, not Wall Street performance.

Thank you for considering these important objectives, as Louisiana’s present system of providing electricity is not working for the customer.

Sincerely,

[First & Last Name]

[Address of Utility Service]

Phone Number] “

Dr. Greene concluded the letter urging Louisiana residents to send the letter or email to him, “As I would love to walk into my next meeting at the Commission, and every meeting after that until we accomplish change, with stacks of letters from utility customers that want a voice in our decisions,” he wrote. He also recommended that the letters be sent to the Commission and each Commissioner as well, “I know several of my fellow commissioners agree with working towards these goals and dedicate their days in office to serving customers, so hearing from their customers should be fuel for our efforts to see this good work through,” he concluded.