Under Blistering Questioning, Davante Dodges
Lewis refuses to describe the "significant" national and state problem he insists exists and must be solved!
The June meeting of the Public Service Commission happened Wednesday the 7th at the Higgins Hotel, New Orleans, following a conference of utility regulators called SEARUC: the Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.
Mostly a typical meeting, and mercifully short, the finale did come in hot, as Davante Lewis submitted a Directive to the PSC staff: to investigate improper utility company spending of bill payments from ratepayers.
Before things were over, the room would laugh at Davante’s expense, two commissioners would give him a full dressing down and they’d pound objections and questions at him and cite precedent and existing practice.
Note how the Directive opens as written:
“In recent years, issues have arisen across the country regarding the use of ratepayer money by utilities for lobbying expenses, membership dues in trade associations, political advertising, and even bribery. While regulations exist to thwart these actions…”
Things were different with the Directive as spoken, however. This is what Mr Lewis said, what he read from the page in front of him:
“In recent years, issues have arisen across the country regarding the use of ratepayer money by utilities for lobbying expenses, membership dues in trade associations, political advertising. While regulations exist to thwart these actions…”
Note he did not say, “and political advertising” to conclude the list. He omitted “and even bribery” on the fly, in the very moment.
He wormed out, because though he did not say the words when he read his Directive into the transcript of the meeting, he did include the “bribery” accusation in the written copy he posted on social media, thus misrepresenting himself.
And of course, he boasts about it…
Immediately upon hearing Lewis’ statement, Commissioner Mike Francis forthrightly reminded everyone that rules and practices disprove the suspicion.
Mr Francis:
“This is covered, we audit these companies…”
“From the first time I came up here, this was already being done.”
The PSC staff sees the money, matches up the spending. Mr Lewis’ accusation that utility companies are mis-spending ratepayers money is false; the problem doesn’t exist, and rules and practices are already in place to both prevent it and reveal it to the commission should improper spending occur.
Mr Lewis is creating an issue where there is none, and everyone in that room knows it.
Commission Chairman Campbell not only called the Directive “a little bit overboard,” but handled the conversation with an overall tone of sarcasm and a patronizing belittling of the issue; he was placating Davante, and admitted it.
PSC Executive Secretary Brandon Frey described the audit process and assured Mr Lewis that companies can’t easily elude or evade this revelation of ratepayer spending. He also cautioned the commission to the likely need to hire attorneys from outside staff to meet Mr Lewis’ Directive. At remarkable cost surely.
Next up, utility executives from Entergy and then SWEPCO described their practices and processes, fully addressed the accusations, and assured Mr Lewis that ratepayers do not pay for political activities; shareholders pay for it. A company might have an employee-funded PAC, but that’s not funded with ratepayer’s money, either.
“Our practice for many decades has been to remove all that from rates.”
Funny, though, was how Commissioner Francis invited the execs up to the testimony table: “Are you illegally using our ratepayer’s money to hustle business?” he asked, rather mockingly, in a country twang… “No, sir” they lightheartedly replied. “That’s the accusation so defend yourself!”
And the room swelled with laughter.
Nobody was taking Davante’s Directive very seriously. They all held to decorum, but it’s obvious in viewing the meeting, in their wide grins. Even Secretary Frey seems entertained by the foolery of it all.
Not entertained for a moment, however, was Commissioner Eric Skrmetta.
Not at all coy and making no effort to hide his disgust, the Commissioner from Metairie was having nothing of it. Not the comedy of the chairman; not the “for the people” platitudes.
Eric Skrmetta throttled Davante Lewis
“Yeah, um, look. I appreciate the sentiment, but we already do it. We do it through audit. We’ve been doing it through audit. Like, I believe… since the 70’s. Not only do we not allow that, but we don’t allow senior executive compensation through stock shares. We do a lot of things beyond this. And just for the purpose of work to make work… an expert on the staff, an extra hire… and look, I think I’ve demonstrated I’ll hire people to do anything necessary … I can’t see the purpose in this when we know we’re gonna audit the companies…”
Mr Skrmetta enquired of Secretary Frey:
“Mr Frey, I would assume that if you saw a utility expense for using ratepayer money for political action or any of the things that have been demonstrated in Commissioner Lewis’ statement, it’s excluded anyway.”
“I would agree with that,” answered the Executive Secretary. “That has been the typical practice.”
In a strikingly dissonant way, Mr Frey (and especially Commissioner Campbell) brought up issues from the past, as if to reassure Davante, “Yes, this can happen.” But as they mentioned these offenses, they noted their resolution.
Mr Skrmetta continued…
“People are monitoring all this… The audit is the point at which the commission intercepts the questionable actions… The creation of a… rule-making is an unnecessary redundancy, the potential hiring of someone is an unnecessary redundancy…”
“While I appreciate the sentiment, I don’t see the need, because we’re already doing it… I’ve seen the commission take action. We already took care of all of this when I was still in high school, and probably before Commissioner Lewis was born. I just think that we have better things to spend ratepayer money on than doing things that are redundant and are already taken care of.”
Davante stumbled, sounding a bit like Vice-President Kamala Harris, and, like she, is too impressed with riding his high-horse to have seen the opening he gave Skrmetta:
“I respect we have an audit process, but we also have no clear rules, and we have no clear definition of what we’re defining. This is about transparency, and I’m getting the sense you don’t want transparency. And if this is not happening, as you keep saying, than what’s the point of looking at it?
“And having a strong rule… a consistent policy that in Louisiana the ratepayers of this state, that they won’t be using their dollars to pay for your priorities.
“I appreciate we’ve been looking at this since before I was born, but there’s a significant problem in this country, and there’s a problem here in Louisiana. And we deserve the right to have our people of Louisiana know that we are looking into this and we are deciding whether or not there should be stronger rules. It’s a three-legged stool: it’s clear rules, it is reporting, and it is enforcement… I’m going to continue to push this.”
Skrmetta, however, will not be pushed:
“Just a quick question, actually to Commissioner Lewis. You had said that you know that there is a problem, but we’ve been monitoring these things and if you know there’s a problem, I’d appreciate you telling me what you’ve identified the problem as. Because if there is a problem, I’d like to know it.
“Through audit, which, from the billions of dollars of credits that this commission has recovered, these companies don’t escape recovery from the ratepayers…
“If you’ve identified something, you owe it to the commission and to the public to tell us what it is, instead of a fishing expedition… Government ‘make work for make work’ is unnecessary. Government work for a necessary purpose is perfectly acceptable, but it really touches home to me that we’ve already established rules to achieve the exact purpose of what you’d like to do.
“For what we did today already, in demonstrating the use of these people for the exact purpose of what you’re trying to achieve… Instead of a nonspecific thing of what you’re looking for, if there’s a specific thing you know is happening, I’d really appreciate it if you’d educate me to know what it is.”
After a sort of clumsy confusion, “Was that a question?” “Did you ask him a question?” “Was that a question for him?”
“Yes sir I did.”
And at that Davante wormed again:
“And I think to answer the commissioner, my question is in the Directive, which is why I’m proposing it, so we can definitively get answers.”
Chairman Campbell spoke of what used to be a problem with legislative bills killed at the Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. “You bring your wife, you bring your kids, they tell you to get what you want to eat… They might not buy you with one steak but with 20 or 30 of ‘em…” A rambling mess of what used to be.
“People going out to eat 4 out of 5 days a week with the company we regulate; well that’s sickening! You cain’t do that kind of stuff” complained Campbell.
So disgusted was Mr Skrmetta that he spoke to Mr Campbell off microphone, from behind Mr Greene’s back, saying, “That was 15 years ago.” Secretary Frye interjected: “It was actually, it was ‘03.”
“All this man is trying to do is have a little check-up. That’s all. Like you go to the doctor you have a check-up, you go here you have a little check-up, if we pass, we pass, we don’t pass we fix it. So I’m going to support Mr Lewis. It might be a little bit overboard. but it’s so important to get a check-up even if it’s overboard.”
Commissioner Foster Campbell
A representative from a state-wide group of ratepayers called the Public Service Citizens Brigade - a group I cannot identify despite searching - chided the commission for who-knows-what and then supported Mr Lewis’ Directive, ignoring the statements from commissioners and executive testimony.
Commissioner Greene stayed silent, mostly, except to get snarky with the utility companies, as is his wont.
Davante won the vote, 3 - 2. Skrmetta and Francis voted “no.”
One wonders how this meeting would have proceeded if Davante had stuck with his “bribery” charge!
The man is a clown.
Mr Lewis reads his Directive at 1:34:40.
Uh-Oh! Aren’t lobbyists terrible people doing awful work that “the people” must be protected from, Mr Lewis?
Essential reading about April’s PSC meeting:
