The 3rd District encompasses part of Orleans Parish, where New Orleans is located, along with parts of nine other parishes, including Ascension, Assumption, East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, Iberville, Jefferson, St. Charles, St. James, and St. John Baptist Parishes. It’s familiar territory for Lewis, who is a lifelong Louisiana resident and has spent nearly half a decade at the Louisiana Budget Project in Baton Rouge advocating for marginalized Louisianians.
”I’ve been our Director of Public Affairs and Outreach, managing our partnership, our community engagement, our overall advocacy strategy, and our legislative strategy, so while there I have kind of been the lead person on [fighting] predatory lending, and stopping payday loans, and have passed three successful student loan protection bills in Louisiana, putting us in the forefront,” Lewis said.
His drive to pursue the role of 3rd District commissioner similarly shows the intersectional nature of the position. The LPSC oversees not just utilities but “certain common carrier intrastate pipelines, and motor carriers providing the following intrastate services: certain passenger carriers, waste haulers, household goods movers and non-consensual towing and recovery services,” according to the LPSC.
”When you think about the intersections of environmental justice, economic justice, and racial justice, and how prevalent poverty is, and when poverty is so high in a place like Louisiana, how a $50 change in your electricity bill can make or break your life, [it] really pushed me into this race,” Lewis explains, “because I just saw so many of the avenues that weren’t being considered that that really showcased the face of Louisiana.”
That includes setting telephone rates in prisons, which many canvassers spoke passionately about on Friday. Charles Amos with Voters Organized to Educate knows all too well the toll a $17.20 an hour phone call takes on families and those who are incarcerated. Amos has been home for seven months after serving 28 years in prison. He remembers the difficulties of trying to reach his loved ones around the holidays. “I always wanted to call home, especially around Thanksgiving, Christmas, because a lot of my family is in one house. Everybody’s celebrating,” Amos said.
With the minimum wage at just over $7, “my family member would have to work two and a half hours to pay for one hour. So some families wouldn’t even accept [the call] because it’s too high … The phone issue is very important to me, because I’ve left a lot of people that I love that are still in prison that I want them to call me,” Amos added. It’s what drew Amos to Friday’s canvassing event and sparked his involvement with Voters Organized to Educate, a 501(c)(4) organization dedicated to fighting injustice through voter education and methodical candidate endorsements. Naturally, Lewis is endorsed by the group.
Lowering prison phone call rates would be lifechanging, as would establishing Lewis’ suite of policies that includes a ratepayer bill of rights to rein in Entergy Louisiana and Entergy New Orleans’ high rates for consumers. This policy aims to hold Entergy accountable while also alleviating ratepayer concerns by banning utility shutoffs and high late fees.
Lewis also wants Louisiana to lead the way in a just transition. As far as utilities making the jump to renewables goes, Entergy lags far behind. Just 1% of the power generated by Entergy New Orleans comes from renewables; Entergy Louisiana reports similar figures in its 2019 Integrated Resource Plan. He’s hoping to reach the Louisiana Climate Action Plan’s goal of Louisiana generating all of its power from renewables by 2035.
“We can’t keep just talking about how we know we need to move to renewables,” Lewis said, “We need to set in place that standard, we need to set in place that process, and we need to start moving toward clean energy to fueling our utility system. And so [that is] the first thing that I’m doing right out of the bat when I get elected.
So strongly is Lewis’ campaign focused on climate change and reaching net-zero goals that he’s earned the endorsement of Pastor Gregory Manning, who came in third place during the midterms. Manning is one of the key leaders of Louisiana Just Recovery Network, an organization I’ve volunteered with that is informed by environmental justice leaders in the river parishes and provides job opportunities for communities rebuilding their homes there.
Manning has worked tirelessly for years to hold Entergy New Orleans and Entergy Louisiana accountable, as have the many environmental justice groups he works with, including Rise St. James.
“This race is about giving power back to the people.” Manning said when making his endorsement, “power that Entergy and the current Commissioner are trying to take away for their own greed. To protect Entergy’s shareholders, they’re letting our grid crumble and our bills continue to rise rather than strengthening our infrastructure and transitioning to renewables.”
Louisiana is one of just 10 states in which public service commissioners are elected by voters rather than appointed by lawmakers. Lewis’ election could be a turning point for other states in a similar position. For the dozens of states relying on other elected officials to do the right thing? This could put them on notice that their constituents are watching—and aim to hold them accountable for their appointments.
