Rarely is a Louisiana Public Service Commission meeting as significant in scope as the discussion and vote Wednesday on two Entergy requests: that its customers pay for a $140-million mistake at nuclear power plant and permission to build a new natural gas-fueled plant.
Some of the giants of Louisiana industry have lined up in opposition to Entergy’s requests.
Atypically, the five PSC commissioners have been circumspect in conversations over the past weeks about their leanings on either issue.
They seem to agree that making customers pay for the mistake, in Commissioner Foster Campbell’s words, “rewards incompetence on the backs of everyday Mom and Pop consumers.”
On the other hand, Campbell included, they seem to also acknowledge the long-term consequences of their decisions Wednesday and in PSC Commissioner Scott Angelle’s words, “We can’t just go off half-cocked.”
The November 2010 discovery of “visible cracks and distortion” on key pieces of equipment to be installed at the Waterford 3 nuclear power plant launched a debate over money and principle. Entergy Louisiana LLC wants its 1 million customers to pay, including a profit.
http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/business/article_89b76ef6-6d4f-11e6-8325-37f26841d940.html
