Newcomer wins election for Public Service Commission
By SARA CLINE
Associated Press
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Newcomer Davante Lewis has won Saturday’s runoff for a seat on Louisiana’s Public Service Commission. The 30-year-old progressive policy advocate beat incumbent Lambert Boissiere III, who has held the seat for nearly 18 years. The five-member commission regulates electric utilities, prison telephone rates and telecommunications, among other things. The multiparish election, which stretches from Baton Rouge to New Orleans, received national attention as major utility companies and outside political action committees poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into the race. Climate activists have become increasingly focused on the commission in a state that has a front-row seat for climate change impacts and where tens of thousands of jobs are tied to the oil and gas industry.