Louisiana’s major electric utilities are still pushing state regulators to allow them to charge customers for the costs of a new statewide energy efficiency program and for the electricity consumers will no longer need because of that program, Louisiana Illuminator reports. 

A large group that included Louisiana Public Service Commission staff, utility company executives, consumer advocates and other energy experts met Wednesday to evaluate bids from companies that want to oversee Louisiana’s new energy efficiency program. 

LPSC’s new energy efficiency program requires utility companies to meet certain energy savings targets the administrator sets. Hitting those targets could require big changes from utilities―such as systemwide upgrades―or smaller efforts like helping low-income customers insulate their homes. 

While the idea might seem like a solution to cut back on waste, utility company executives have been pushing back. In general, utility companies earn more profit when homes and businesses waste electricity. Less waste leads to lower electric bills, which could mean lower profits for the utilities. 

Entergy Louisiana and Cleco are two of the state’s utility providers that have vehemently opposed the idea and delayed its adoption for years. A consultant the commission hired to write the basic guidelines for the program spent 13 years and over $500,000 trying to appease utility companies with agreeable rules, Louisiana Illuminator reports. 

In an effort to end the delays, Commissioner Craig Greene, R-Baton Rouge, ended the stalemate in January and joined with the two Democrats on the commission in adopting what they say is a more consumer-friendly program what the utilities wanted. 

Though customers are covering all the costs of the program, the utility companies also want  customers to recover lost profits with “under-earning” fees. The utility companies lobbied the LPSC to keep a provision that allows them to tack on additional charges to make up for profits they miss out on when their customers no longer waste electricity.

Read the full story. 

While Hurricane Beryl crossed into Louisiana as a tropical storm, Republican Governor Jeff Landry was on vacation in Europe, according to a new report.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based newspaper the Advocate reported Friday that Landry and his wife, Sharon were on a “weeklong jaunt” through Croatia, Greece and Italy when Beryl hit Louisiana, killing one person and damaging homes and businesses and leaving thousands without power. Beryl — which hit southeast Texas as a category 1 hurricane earlier this month, later moved east into the Bayou State and caused coastal flooding and wind speeds in excess of 60 miles per hour. A 31 year-old woman in Benton, Louisiana was killed when a tree fell on her home.

“All the governors I’m familiar with made a business to be around during hurricane season, especially when there was one in the Gulf,” Terry Ryder — who was an attorney for three former Louisiana governors — told the Advocate. “They were always completely engaged before, during and after a storm or a serious threat of a storm. You would not have seen them way out of the country.”

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While Landry reportedly told Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser (R) about his European vacation in advance, he notably did not make a public announcement. Nungesser told the Advocate that he doesn’t “sleep during a hurricane ever since Katrina,” in reference to the 2005 storm that killed more than 1,500 Louisiana residents. He added that it was a “tough call” for Landry to decide postponing his vacation in light of the hurricane as it was approaching from the Caribbean.

“So many of them don’t affect us,” he said. “But if becomes a major threat, you have to be in a position to come back.”

Landry’s press secretary, Kate Kelly, told the publication via text message that the characterization of her boss as absent during a major emergency was unfair, and that Landry was plugged in with state emergency response officials throughout his vacation.

“It was not much of a vacation as he sprang into action with multiple calls a day with the FEMA director, local leaders, GOHSEP [Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness], & State Police in order to monitor Hurricane Beryl,” Kelly said. “He issued a disaster declaration for affected parishes on July 9 and requested a Federal Emergency Disaster Declaration on July 10. Gov. Landry always puts Louisiana and her people first, and it’s disingenuous for this paper to try and imply otherwise — solely for clickbait.”

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Michael Steele, who is a spokesperson for GOHSEP, told the paper that “there was never a moment when the governor was out of communication” with emergency responders.

“GOHSEP was never activated beyond the first level of activation,” he said.

Landry’s European trip had reportedly been postponed more than once: The Covid-19 pandemic initially scuttled his plans to visit the continent, followed by the death of his mother-in-law and the 2023 gubernatorial race.

Click here to read the Advocate’s report in its entirety (subscription required).

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BATON ROUGE, La. — A Louisiana police officer was killed this week during a SWAT operation, the Lafayette Police Department said Friday.

In a statement on its Facebook page, the department identified the officer killed as Senior Cpl. Segus Jolivette, a member of the Special Weapons and Tactics Team. The husband and father of five joined the department in November 2013 and had served as a school resource officer in the past.

The officer was killed during a SWAT operation Thursday in the small city of Jeanerette in southern Louisiana. Details about the situation leading up to Jolivette’s death were not immediately available.

Trooper Peggy Bourque, a spokesperson for the Louisiana State Police, told The Associated Press on Friday morning that a suspect “has been captured and is no longer a threat to the public.” Officials have not provided the name or details of the suspect.

Multiple police agencies and officials took to social media Thursday night to mourn the death of the officer.

“Today we lost one of our best in the line of duty,” Lafayette Parish Mayor-President Monique Blanco Boulet said in a written statement. “I offer my prayers, my sympathies and my support to his wife, his children, his parents, and his entire family. They are experiencing the most difficult and unimaginable kind of loss.”

Before joining the Lafayette department, Jolivette worked for the Opelousas Police Department. Lafayette police said Jolivette dedicated much of his free time supporting the Explorer Program, “helping Lafayette’s youth to gain a better understanding of law enforcement operations and the importance of relationship building in our community.”

“His legacy of bravery and dedication will be remembered and honored by all who knew him,” Lafayette police said in a statement.

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Associated Press writers Kevin McGill in New Orleans and Jeff Martin in Atlanta contributed to this report.