Louisiana Public Service Commission

Louisiana Public Service Commission (PSC) is an independent regulatory agency serving the public of Louisiana by managing its public utilities and motor carriers. It is the successor to the Railroad Commission of Louisiana. The commission has five elected members chosen by single-member district.

Four PSC members have been elected governor of Louisiana: Huey Pierce Long, Jr., in 1928, James Houston "Jimmie" Davis in 1944, John Julian McKeithen in 1964 and 1968, and Kathleen Babineaux Blanco in 2003. Another commissioner, Jay Blossman, abandoned the 2003 governor's race when opinion polls showed that he was making little headway. John G. Schwegmann, a New Orleans-area grocery store magnate who was defeated in the 1971 Democratic gubernatorial primary, was thereafter elected to the PSC in the second half of the 1970s.

Foster L. Campbell, Jr., a Democrat from Bossier City, has served on the PSC since 2002, when he unseated his fellow Democrat Donald Lynn "Don" Owen of Shreveport, a former newsman for KSLA-TV. Campbell failed in his own gubernatorial bid in 2007. Owen was elected to the PSC in 1984, when the then incumbent Francis Edward "Ed" Kennon, Jr., declined to see a third term on the commission. Kennon is descended from a famous Louisiana political family: his uncle Robert F. Kennon was governor from 1952–1956. Ed Kennon, a Shreveport developer, also ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in the 1971 Democratic primary.

Another famous member of the PSC was the late Ernest Clements of Oberlin in Allen Parish, a protege of the Long. Wade O. Martin, Sr., patriarch of another Louisiana political family, also served on the PSC. John S. Hunt, III, (1928–2001) of Monroe, a nephew of Huey Long and Earl Kemp Long, served on the commission from 1964–1972, when he was succeeded by Ed Kennon. Hunt's mother was Lucille Long Hunt.

External links

* http://www.lpsc.org/