The Louisiana Public Service Commission has selected a contractor to measure its statewide energy efficiency program, days after rumblings that a commissioner was prepared to dismantle the long-awaited program.
The commission’s March 26 meeting agenda listed a “discussion and possible vote to pause the statewide energy efficiency program.” However, the PSC deferred that item and instead voted 3-2 to contract with Tetra Tech for $7.2 million to evaluate, measure and verify energy savings for Louisiana’s fledging statewide energy efficiency program.
The step continued a years-in-the-making effort to establish a statewide energy efficiency program in Louisiana. The PSC in 2010 hired Georgia-based consulting firm J. Kennedy & Associates to draft the commission’s energy efficiency rules. The firm spent more than a decade trying to land on parameters that utilities didn’t oppose. The commission finally authorized a program in April 2024.
Ahead of the meeting, the Alliance for Affordable Energy, Louisiana’s sole utility consumer advocate, sent notice that a commissioner was trying to undo the program altogether. It refrained from naming the commissioner. Commissioner Eric Skrmetta was the most vocally opposed to hiring an evaluation, measurement and verification (EMV) contractor during the meeting. Skrmetta’s office didn’t respond to RTO Insider’s request for comment on whether the call for discussion originated with him.
In addition to Tetra Tech’s bid, DNV, Opinion Dynamics and ADM Associates submitted bids at $4.5 million, $8.4 million and $10.9 million, respectively.
Skrmetta said none of the companies attempted to reach out to him to explain their bids. He said the program costs seem “extraordinarily high without explanation” and could have ratepayer impacts.
“In a time where we’re looking to avoid waste, fraud and abuse in government contracting, this is the type of thing where you question where we are,” Skrmetta said.
Skrmetta also said it seems “counterintuitive” to spend money to gauge energy savings.
Commissioner Davante Lewis, on the other hand, said he met with representatives from the companies and believes the move to a statewide energy efficiency program will be worthwhile. He said Louisiana’s investor-owned utilities already have contracted with Tetra Tech to conduct their individual energy efficiency programs. Lewis said he expected no rate impacts from the state taking charge of energy efficiency oversight.
“It’s not creating new administrative costs. It’s just now the commission sees those costs because the utility typically hires their EMV contractor,” Lewis explained.
But Skrmetta said he was concerned a contractor could pull off a “double dip,” where it charges the commission in addition to a utility for energy efficiency measurements.
Skrmetta was joined by Commissioner Mike Francis in his “no” vote; all other commissioners voted in favor.
“This is not something we can’t unwind if we need to,” Francis said. The Louisiana PSC can cancel the contract with an EMV contractor with 30 days’ written notice.
“We are relieved to see the commission defer an item that would have stopped efficiency planning in its tracks. Louisianans deserve real action, not delays and political games. Rolling back these programs would mean higher energy bills for Louisiana residents and more money in the pockets of utilities,” Alliance for Affordable Energy’s Alaina DiLaura said in a press release following the meeting.
The Alliance said Louisiana’s shift to using a third-party administrator to manage an energy efficiency program “ensures that the programs are run efficiently and effectively — not by utilities whose profits depend on selling more energy.”
DiLaura added that the commission hasn’t found any new evidence to justify a rollback of the program.
Alliance for Affordable Energy Executive Director Logan Burke also said commissioners should keep their focus on standing up the program and not “not waste time rehashing a settled decision.”
