BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - A Republican who sits on Louisiana’s utility regulatory body will have to wait until December to learn if he’ll win reelection to the seat representing the southeastern-based district.
Eric Skrmetta, who has held two terms on the Louisiana Public Service Commission, will face a rookie Democratic challenger, New Orleans lawyer Allen H. Borne Jr., in the Dec. 5 runoff. The Advocate reports Skrmetta is seeking a third and final six-year term as one of Louisiana’s five elected utility regulators.
Commissioners represent more people than a congressman.
Skrmetta and Borne are running for the District 1 seat that largely covers suburban New Orleans and has a portion of suburban Baton Rouge. Jefferson and St. Tammany parishes account for almost two-thirds of the district’s voters, while Ascension and Livingston chalk up nearly another third, with a smattering of voters in seven other parishes.
The Public Service Commission races often draw little attention outside energy circles, even though commissioners hold a powerful job, setting the rates people pay on their monthly electric bills.
“These five individuals make decisions worth billions and billions of dollars, and they do so with very little oversight,” said Logan Atkinson Burke, head of the Alliance for Affordable Energy.
Skrmetta, of Metairie, received 31% of the votes for the district seat in Tuesday’s election, against six opponents. Borne received 25% of the ballots cast.
“We were expecting a runoff all along,” Skrmetta said. “Our polling showed we actually did a little better than we thought we would.”
Borne said his main message at forums and video conferences was that Skrmetta receives the bulk of his campaign revenues from the huge corporations that run utilities and the financial interests that help the power companies do their business.
“Frankly, I ran into a whole lot of people who didn’t know of Mr. Skrmetta or the PSC for that matter,” Borne said.
Borne didn’t accept contributions from the utility companies, arguing that commissioners shouldn’t be beholden to the utilities they regulate.
Skrmetta said that despite taking campaign funds from utility companies, he and fellow commissioners have always worked to keep rates low. But he said the utility companies need enough money to provide low cost power for businesses that want to expand or locate in Louisiana, thereby helping the economy.
“Our rate mechanism is paving the way for $119 billion of new industry for Louisiana,” Skrmetta said. “What we do is incredibly complex. But it’s like watching paint dry for most people.”
The elected commissioners serve staggered terms.
One other PSC seat was on Tuesday’s ballot, representing north Louisiana. In that district, Democratic incumbent Foster Campbell of Bossier Parish easily defeated his Republican opponent to win a final term before he’ll hit term limits.
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