The Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) held its first meeting of the year in Baton Rouge on January 14. The LPSC elected its 2026 Chairman and Vice-Chairman, approved several procedural matters, and continued to defer discussion on opening a rulemaking docket related to large energy loads.

The only substantive discussion of the meeting centered on upcoming reporting requirements for load serving entities to file five-year load forecasts and planned generation assets with the LPSC. Commissioner Jean-Paul Coussan requested that LPSC staff prepare high-level briefing documents summarizing these filings that commissioners can distribute to constituents. This would be an effort aimed at addressing public concerns that the rapid development of datacenters and other large loads in Louisiana could increase electricity rates for consumers.

The commission elected Commissioner Eric Skrmetta as 2026 Chairman in a 3-2 vote, with Commissioners Foster Campbell and Davante Lewis objecting. Commissioner Coussan was unanimously elected as 2026 Vice-Chairman. Commissioner Skrmetta was also unanimously elected as the LPSC's representative to the Organization of MISO States (OMS), MISO Entergy Regional State Committee (ERSC), and Southwest Power Pool (SPP). The Commissioners largely adopted staff recommendations on various procedural matters without debate.

Commissioner Lewis's proposal to open a rulemaking docket examining how the PSC should handle large loads was once again postponed to a future meeting.