(Constitutional Amendment) Provides for certain common carriers and public utilities to be regulated by the Public Service Commission

HB 744 proposes a constitutional amendment to expand the regulatory authority of the Public Service Commission over common carriers and public utilities in the city of New Orleans. The bill amends Article IV, Section 21(C) of the Louisiana Constitution by clarifying that the existing exemption from Public Service Commission regulation does not apply to common carriers and public utilities located in New Orleans, and adds new Article IV, Section 21(G) to expressly grant the Public Service Commission regulatory jurisdiction over all common carriers and public utilities in New Orleans notwithstanding the city's home rule charter. This amendment requires voter approval and is scheduled for submission to Louisiana electors at the statewide election on November 3, 2026.

The practical effect of this constitutional amendment would be to remove the current regulatory autonomy that New Orleans exercises over common carriers and public utilities within its jurisdiction and to transfer that authority to the state Public Service Commission. Common carriers such as transportation companies and public utilities such as water, gas, electric, telecommunications, and other service providers operating in New Orleans would become subject to state regulatory oversight rather than exclusively local municipal regulation. This change would harmonize New Orleans' regulatory framework with that of the rest of Louisiana, where the Public Service Commission holds primary regulatory authority over such entities, though local governments in other areas retain certain limited regulatory powers subject to the commission's oversight.

The existing constitutional framework established in Article IV, Section 21 grants the Public Service Commission broad regulatory power over common carriers and public utilities throughout Louisiana but contains an exemption for utilities owned, operated, or regulated by political subdivisions as of the effective date of the current constitution, subject to voter approval for any expansion of commission authority. However, this framework has historically been interpreted to exclude New Orleans utilities from Public Service Commission jurisdiction due to the city's home rule charter, which grants the city broad powers of local self-governance including regulatory authority over utilities and common carriers. The proposed amendment directly addresses this conflict by explicitly subjecting New Orleans utilities to Public Service Commission jurisdiction and declaring that this state regulatory authority supersedes the city's home rule charter provisions, establishing a clear hierarchy between state and local regulatory power in this context.