NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The chairman of Louisiana's utility regulatory agency, the Public Service Commission, will return for a new term in January.
Eric Skrmetta, a lawyer from Metairie, defeated fellow Republican Forest Bradley Wright, a New Orleans energy consultant, in Saturday's runoff election for the District 1 PSC seat.
Campaigns from both sides were attack-heavy.
Wright slammed Skrmetta as beholden to the large utility companies and accused him of unethical, pay-to-play political deals. Skrmetta criticized Wright as a pawn of the solar industry and claimed Wright used misleading campaign ads to smear him.
The PSC seat covers 12 parishes, including St. Helena, Tangipahoa, Washington, St. Tammany, St. Bernard, Plaquemines and parts of Orleans and Jefferson, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, Ascension and Livingston.
