Our comments were filed in response to Entergy Louisiana’s request to close the docket and avoid looking into options that could save residents money on bills, like Community Solar.
On the one hand, according to utility resource plans, it is clear that retirements of aging and inefficient gas and coal fleets are imminent. On the other side of the power balance sheet, we see reports of an “industrial renaissance” from petrochemical industrial customers and unheard-of explosive growth in recent years from the rise of power-hungry data centers. All of this points to development of new generation and infrastructure investments.
Meanwhile, residential customers are already struggling under the weight of volatile fuel prices, storm recovery costs related to climate change-intensified storms, and missed opportunities as a result of inaction by regulators. The bottom line: bills are rising, and without thoughtful solutions, households may end up shouldering an unfair share of these costs. Unprecedented times call for measured and creative solutions.
The Alliance for Affordable Energy’s focus in this proceeding is to ensure that residential electric customers have choices and that they are protected from bearing the financial burden of utility investments that primarily serve large industrial customers.
A recent paper from the Environmental and Energy Law Program at Harvard Law School points out the risks of the rapid demand growth underway in the power sector and suggests regulators think differently about what this means to all customers. By 2028, it is projected data centers will account for 12% of all electricity demand (more information). This is why we continue to encourage the Commission and staff to consider different structures to ensure utilities are not able to shift costs onto residents, allowing large businesses to privatize rewards at the public’s expense. We support the Commission and Staff’s continued efforts to identify solutions to limit ratepayer impacts, rather than prematurely move to end this docket.
The Alliance maintains that options that center residential customers have not been fully considered by the Commission. This includes Community Solar, which would allow thousands of Louisiana residents to access and benefit from clean and low-cost energy.
Louisiana has been awarded over $156 million in federal grants to expand access to solar for low-income households, but those dollars remain largely untapped without a workable community solar rule and clear guidance from the LPSC. Thousands of Louisiana residents could see lower bills due to these program dollars, but in the absence of Commission guidance and rules funds can only be spent in cities with policies ready to put the money to use.
We’re advocating for reasonable analysis and consideration of different kinds of solutions for different kinds of customers. We suggested strategies such as implementing exit fees for large industrial customers seeking to generate their own power and requiring new data centers to cover their full infrastructure costs. These ideas aim to ensure that costs are shared fairly across customer groups.
We are concerned that if the Commission abandons this effort prematurely, residential ratepayers will pay the costs for generations. We urge the Commission to set and maintain clear timelines in this and other rulemaking dockets. Too often, essential consumer protections and energy solutions get delayed while utilities continue business as usual. When we call for “measured solutions” we do not expect proceedings to take “decades”.
The Alliance agrees with electric cooperative utilities that these not-for-profit member owned utilities should be relieved of the responsibility to provide additional analysis or data as required by the Commission Staff’s Seventh Request for Information.
The kinds of regulatory programs or regimes the Commission has asked for are not truly applicable to co-operative utilities for various reasons, including their ownership structure and size. These added requirements would create unnecessary strain for co-op’s and we encourage the Commission to focus its efforts on Investor Owned Utility service territories, where the scale of growth and changes are concentrated.
The Alliance encourages the Commission to continue its work in this docket and to address the unprecedented costs and challenges facing Louisiana residents.
This is not the time to simply charge forward with billions in new investments that serve only a handful of new customers. The stakes are too high for the Commission to cut this process short. By exploring different kinds of solutions and ensuring costs are shared fairly, the LPSC has an opportunity to protect residents from future rate hikes and create an energy future that works for everyone.
The Alliance will continue to advocate for policies that prioritize affordability, equity, and environmental stewardship. Stay tuned for updates as this process continues.
