09/02/2026
Growth is only a win if the people of Louisiana are protected.
In Episode 6 of FUELED Season 6: Powering Louisiana’s Future, Louisiana Public Service Commission Vice Chairman and District 2 Commissioner Jean-Paul Coussan explains how the Commission protects the public interest—from responding to individual constituent complaints to scrutinizing the utility proposals, infrastructure investments, and rate structures that make major economic-development projects possible.
🎥 Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/T6iWFFWUhvU
Rates matter.
Reliability matters.
And as extraordinary new power demand comes online, who carries the cost matters, too.
For Coussan, protecting ratepayers is not a position against growth. It is the condition that makes growth defensible.
His standard is straightforward: every proposal must demonstrate that the infrastructure is necessary and the investment is prudent. The parties creating extraordinary demand should carry the costs and risks it creates, while the broader power system should realize measurable benefits.
That standard is becoming increasingly consequential.
As Louisiana attracts larger industrial and technology investments, the generation, transmission, and long-term financial commitments required to serve them are growing as well. Decisions made today could shape the reliability and affordability of Louisiana’s power system for generations.
Data centers make the scale of that responsibility unmistakable.
Coussan’s position is direct:
“Our commitment is for the data center growth to pay their full freight.”
In the full conversation, we discuss:
‣ how months of technical review shape a single Commission vote
‣ why regulatory accountability continues long after a project receives approval
‣ how Louisiana can prepare for extraordinary demand without leaving customers responsible for infrastructure the system may not need
‣ why transformative projects should produce measurable benefits for the broader power system
‣ how accelerated regulatory review can move Louisiana faster without lowering standards or surrendering scrutiny
‣ and how natural gas, solar, nuclear, transmission, and long-term planning fit into a reliable and defensible power strategy
Episode 5 showed why the world is looking at Louisiana.
Episode 6 examines the responsibility attached to that attention: determining how Louisiana can build enough, move quickly, preserve reliability, and ensure the risks of extraordinary growth do not fall on the people already here.
Thank you, Jean-Paul, for taking us inside the Commission’s work and helping us understand the scrutiny, accountability, and long-term stewardship behind Louisiana’s most consequential power decisions.
🎙️ Stream FUELED on your favorite platform.
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