CROWLEY - Gil Pinac, a former State Representative and Chairman of the House Commerce Committee, is in the race for Louisiana Public Service Commissioner. A special election is set for April 4, 2009, to replace the Public Service Commission (PSC) member for District Four, who left office to accept another job. The runoff date, if needed, will be May 2, 2009.

“I will fight to get more power to you, the Louisiana consumer” said Pinac. “As public service commissioner, I will take a common sense approach while working to keep electric rates fair, encourage the development of new sources of reliable, affordable, clean energy, and demand the safe and quick return of power to our homes and businesses after disasters strike our state.”

“Our day-to-day lives are affected every time we flip that electrical switch, and in these difficult economic times, we should get what we pay for: safe, reliable, and reasonably-priced electricity and other utilities,” said the Crowley Republican.

Pinac noted he has been dealing with utility companies, which are regulated by the PSC, since his days as a city councilman and mayor pro-tem in Crowley, where he served for nine years (1986-1995) before being elected to the state legislature in 1995, where he served until January 2008.

“Because of my 21 years of public service in state and local government, I know how to work with the utility companies to get the job done for Louisiana consumers,” said Pinac.

Pinac, 51, seeks to replace Dale Sittig of Eunice, who resigned that post recently to accept a job with Louisiana’s Offshore Oil Port ( LOOP). Sittig served from November 1995 until he left in October 2008.



District Four of the Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) is comprised of all or part of 17 Louisiana parishes in the central and southwestern part of the state. It includes Acadia, Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Catahoula (part), Evangeline, Grant, Jeff Davis, Lasalle, Pointe Coupee, Rapides, St. Landry, St. Martin (part), Vermilion, and Vernon parishes.

Pinac is a hospital administrator in Crowley. He is a graduate of Notre Dame High School of Acadia Parish, has a bachelor’s degree in business from USL (now UL-L ), and earned an MBA from LSU. He is married to Cherie Arceneaux, and is the father of four daughters : Lauren, Andrea, Kelli, and Mary Catherine. The Pinacs are members of St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Crowley. He may be reached at 337-788-4772 or gilpinac@gmail.com.

The LPSC implemented the “Do Not Call” Program throughout Louisiana January 1, 2002, which prohibits telemarketers from calling people who opt out of such calls. In addition, the commission continues to take an active and cautious role in development of a competitive, market-based approach to utility regulation whenever such an approach is in the public interest.

The LPSC consists of five elected commissioners who serve overlapping terms of six years created by the 1921 Constitution of the State of Louisiana. It succeeded the Railroad Commission of Louisiana that was created by the 1898 Constitution.

The overall goals of the commission are to ensure a regulatory balance that enables utilities to provide customers with safe, adequate and reliable service, at rates that are just and reasonable, equitable and economically efficient, and that allow utilities an opportunity to earn a fair rate of return on their investment.

The commission has jurisdiction over publicly-owned utilities providing electric, water, waste water, natural gas, and telecommunication services in addition to all the electric cooperatives in Louisiana. The LPSC also regulates intrastate transportation services including passenger carrier services, waste haulers, household goods carriers, non-consensual towing, and intrastate pipelines.