Dispute over powerlines between DEMCO & Ascension parish could leave utility customers footing the bill
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) — The Louisiana Public Service Commission will decide July 31 whether to approve a $5.55 fee increase for DEMCO utility members in Ascension Parish to cover the $4 million cost of relocating powerlines for new roundabouts, as the parish and DEMCO failed to agree on cost-sharing for the Move Ascension Project.
Commissioner Davante Lewis, who represents most of Ascension Parish, emphasized the need for collaboration. “When we are talking about zoning, permitting, road expansion, these should be collaborative projects,” Lewis said. “If local governments want to expand, they should be working with their utility; if the utility wants to do something, they need to be working with local governments.”
The disagreement stems from stalled negotiations between DEMCO and Ascension Parish. Court filings from 2022 reveal the parish threatened to remove DEMCO entirely after rejecting the utility’s offer to cover 10% of the relocation costs.
Thomas Gildersleeve, DEMCO’s attorney, said, “We had always said we would relocate our facilities, but rather than refuse to relocate them and interfere with their projects, the board and CEO said we are going to move our facilities, get them out of the way, and resolve the cost later.”
Gildersleeve said DEMCO came back to the table and offered what he said to be a more-even split in the cost-sharing agreement but after two negotiation sessions, talks collapsed. “For reasons we don’t understand, the negotiations broke down, and they would not accept that negotiation after all, we believed it was what they wanted but it was not,” Gildersleeve said.
The Ascension Parish President’s Office did not respond to WAFB’s request for an interview but sent a statement: “The Parish cannot comment on pending litigation filed by DEMCO but will work hard to protect the rights of Ascension Parish residents.”
The breakdown leaves the Public Service Commission to resolve the issue, with utility customers potentially bearing the costs. “These are probably costs they are paying with taxes to the local government, and now these are costs they are having to deal with from their utility provider,” Lewis said.
The current dispute to be resolved by the commission is whether the $4 million estimate by DEMCO is accurate; something Ascension Parish disputes. The commission will also determine whether the costs should be covered solely by Ascension Parish utility customers or all DEMCO members.
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