If you can’t make it in person you can tune in to the livestream or watch the recording at tinyurl.com/lpscyoutube.
Here are some items we’re watching:
Keep reading for a full rundown on these agenda items how they might affect you.
The PSC will consider The Alliance and Union of Concerned Scientists’ (UCS) motion asking for an investigation and prudence review into the Meta data center project in Richland Parish.
On the same day the Commission approved Entergy’s application to build 3 new billion-dollar gas plants and related transmission assets, Meta fundamentally changed the financial terms of the project by shifting 80% ownership of the data center complex to a new joint venture with Blue Owl Capital, Beignet, for roughly $3 billion. Beignet then borrowed $27 billion to fund the Richland Parish data center, creating a risky and complex financial scheme that allows Meta to walk away from the data center after just 4 years.
“This project has always represented unprecedented risk to Louisianans, and from the start Meta has done everything it can to shield themselves from that risk,” said Logan Burke, AAE’s Executive Director. “The additional distance created by this financial deal is a tacit acknowledgement of that risk, and shows that this venture is really a gamble using other people’s money.”
The Alliance and the UCS, in collaboration with Earthjustice, filed a motion calling for an investigation into whether the Commission was misled regarding the financial arrangements of the data center project. The motion recommends the Commission conduct a prudence review to determine whether Entergy knew about the new financial arrangement and failed to inform the Commission before its vote on August 20, 2025. Even if Entergy did not know about the financial arrangement, the motion calls into question whether construction of the projects continues to be prudent.
The Commission could dismiss the motion, direct staff to open a sub proceeding and assign an administrative law judge, or they could call for an investigation of the new financial setup as we requested.
Related to this docket and data center, the Commission will also consider whether to expand the scope of United Professionals Company and Fishman Haygood’s contracts in the Meta data center docket.
In December, the Commission passed a directive put forth by Commissioner Jean-Paul Coussan that establishes a new regulatory pathway for large loads like data centers to be brought onto the electricity grid faster. The “lightning directive” makes it easier for companies to get power by waiving the requirements that protect existing customers.
At the same meeting, Commissioner Lewis also proposed a directive aimed at addressing electricity demand from AI data centers and industry, but with a very different approach. It’s important to note his directive was not in conflict with CM Coussan’s directive. Consideration of Commissioner Lewis’ directive was deferred to this month’s meeting.
Commissioner Lewis’ proposal directs staff to conduct a process for developing a framework to give guidance to utilities and data centers on the consumer protections the Commission would use to ensure new (or expanding) large customers (and utilities) do not harm residents and other businesses. It calls for a transparent policy making process, developed with insight from experts and intended to balance the interests of residents, utilities, and other stakeholders.
The Alliance supports Commission Lewis’ directive. As a regulator of electric utilities, the LPSC’s role is to set policy that weighs and balances the interests of all kinds of customers.
“Move fast and break things” may be Mark Zuckerberg’s motto, and tech industry’s modus operandi, but it is no way to regulate. It is a way to break things. Unfortunately, a lot of Louisianans are already broke.
The Commission will hear from the various impacted electric utilities on winter storm Fern. Over 100,000 people in Louisiana lost power during the storm and without access to electricity for over a week, some residents died of carbon monoxide poisoning, hypothermia, and hypoxia while trying to shelter from sub-zero temperatures. These tragedies highlight the critical nature of electricity, and the challenges Louisianans face year-round when that power isn’t available.
Ice storms are particularly damaging to energy infrastructure, and the work of re-building the system is not easy, or cheap. Utilities will ask regulators for approval to pass all prudent (aka necessary) repair costs onto customers. The Alliance is keeping an eye out for after-reports that will reveal how much repairs will cost.
But outages and post-storm restoration costs aren’t the only impacts that will haunt utility bills long after the ice is melted. The most immediate issue for residents and businesses is the cost of gas.
Also as part of Exhibit 15, there will be a discussion with representatives from Delta Utilities. Residents have been reporting extremely high gas bills that keep climbing. This is largely due to the fact that gas prices have been on the rise since roughly mid-October 2025, spiking significantly in January and again in February during the recent winter storm Fern. The increased price of gas is passed directly onto your bill.
An important thing to remember: the price of gas that shows up on your bills is from two months before your bill date, there’s a delay. That means the costs we saw on bills in January were based on the price of gas in the November market. Unfortunately, since the cost of gas on the market has continued to rise, we can expect February and March bills to be even higher than January’s.
In the short term, our Commissioners can take steps to help residents by approving a plan for storm costs to be recovered by the utilities over a series of months, rather than all at once. Longer term, Commissioners can support modernizing and investing in expanding interregional transmission, regional transmission and grid technology—so low-cost power can reach high-demand areas during extreme events and allow bills to stay predictable.
Last year the Commission passed new energy efficiency rules that will help customers reduce their energy use and lower their bills. The new rules originally included a mandate to hire an independent contractor to assess the effectiveness of the program, and Tetra Tech was subsequently hired as the evaluation, measurement, and verification (EM&V) contractor. However, changes to the rule were made after Tetra Tech was hired. Tomorrow, the Commission will vote on whether to keep Tetra Tech as the EM&V contractor.
In November 2025, Staff opened a rulemaking to create a vegetation management pilot program to address resiliency challenges of the electricity distribution system. The short-term, voluntary pilot would allow utility companies to charge customers extra each month to recover costs they spend on vegetation management in 2025. At the B&E, Staff will present their recommendations for how to structure the pilot program.
Staff recommends the program run 2 years and 9 months, from April 2026 to December 2028. They recommend the program exclude any interim vegetation management spending approved by the Commission, costs incurred due to named storms and, for Utilities operating in multiple states spending for vegetation management conducted outside the State of Louisiana. Staff recommends bill impact not exceed 1% of customers’ overall bills.
The Alliance maintains the position that in order for utility companies to keep getting more money for vegetation management, they need to use the money they already have, and then provide evidence for how those upgrades tangibly increased the resilience of our grid. Resiliency investments must be tied to measurable outcomes.
The Alliance encourages you to attend the PSC’s February meeting if you’re able and provide your input by submitting public comment at the meeting.
Where: 602 North Fifth Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70802 Galvez Building, Natchez Room 1st Floor
When: Wednesday, February 25 at 9am
Agenda: Click here to view the agenda.
If you can’t make it in person to Baton Rouge you can tune in via livestream at tinyurl.com/LPSCyoutube or follow our live coverage of the meeting on Twitter/X.
While you must attend the meeting in person to submit public comment, that’s why The Alliance exists. We know most people don’t have the time or energy to go to obscure meetings like these and, while it’s critical that your voice is heard, know that AAE will be advocating on your behalf and behalf of all Louisianans at PSC meetings.
