CLECO LOSES ONE AGAINST THE RATEPAYERS OF OPELOUSAS

"Louisiana's Third Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that a lawsuit against Cleco Corp. for alleged overbilling of Opelousas customers can go forward." (See: "Double-billing suit against Cleco will go forward in Opelousas"). In the suit, to which the city of Opelousas is not a party, ratepayers argue that Pineville-based Cleco owes local customers more than $30 million as a result of what they claim is double-billing over a period of more than 20 years and in an opinion released Wednesday, Justices Ulysses Gene Thibodeaux, Sylvia R. Cooks and John D. Saunders denied Cleco's effort to have the suit dismissed. id.

"The contractual terms involving the City of Opelousas does not serve to shield Cleco from having to answer for their alleged contractual breaches and tortious actions," the court ruled." id.

 "It also ruled that while the Public Service Commission has the authority to regulate power rates, "that does not extend to any public utility owned, operated or regulated by a municipality." id.

J. R. Whaley, of the law firm of Neblett, Beard & Arsenault, told me that Cleco is saying that the Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) is the proper part that should bring these actions. But back in October of 2010 I wrote that just an in the City of Alexandria's fraud case against Cleco, this argument seems to go against the Louisiana Constitution as to the LPSC having no jurisdiction over a municipal electric provider (HERE).

 It look as if the ratepayers in Opelousas will have better success than we ratepayers in Alexandria has against Cleco.

Of course the ratepayers of Opelousas didn't have our Alexandria Mayor Jacques M. Roy lying to them like he did to us in order to hoodwink the City Council into accepting Jacques' settlement deal with Cleco. ("MAYOR ROY'S ADMINISTRATIVE BRIEFING OF 3-3-2010 ON THE CLECO DEAL"). We in Alexandria have seen no future value as was promised us on our electricity bill or any rebates which Jacques and Chuck Johnson lied to us and told us was in a lock box when there was nothing in it.


See Also: OPELOUSAS LAWSUITS AGAINST CLECO BACK IN STATE COURT and CLECO'S REBATES AND ALEXANDRIA'S SURPLUS and the posts linked therein and thereunder.