When and how much of a rate increase has the Public Service Commission given to AT&T and Entergy over the past five years?

The Louisiana Public Service Commission has no say in what companies charge for landline telephone rates, which were deregulated by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, said PSC spokesman Colby Cook.

Residential electric bills consist of non-fuel charges and fuel adjustment charges, he said. The PSC sets the former, but the market determines the latter — the category most responsible for recent increases on customers’ bills, Cook said.

Non-fuel charges, which “largely represent the base-rate portion of your bill,” are based on a “return on equity” calculation set by the PSC, he said.

The commission reduced the ROE for Entergy Gulf States — the Entergy company that supplies power in the Lake Area — to 9.95 percent, “which is the lowest allowed ROE of any investor-owned electric utility in the state and among the lowest in the Southeast,” Cook said.

Fuel adjustment charges, which The Informer has written about before, allow utilities to directly recoup the money they spend on natural gas to generate electricity.

The PSC approved the charges in the early 1970s in an effort to prevent frequent rate increases and keep utilities from unfairly profiting when customers’ base rates exceed companies’ actual fuel costs.

Cook said the fees “are charged to customers dollar for dollar without any profit to the electric utility and represent actual fuel costs needed to provide electric service.”

“To protect customers, the LPSC audits the fuel costs reflected in the monthly fuel adjustment charge to ensure that the costs paid by customers were reasonable and prudently incurred,” he wrote in an email. “Any costs that are found to be imprudent are refunded to customers.”

Cook said Entergy Gulf States’ average non-fuel charge — 41 cents — has remained stable over the years and is lower now than it was in 2010. The utility’s overall residential rate for August is 9.96 cents per kilowatt-hour, “the lowest of the investor-owned electric utilities regulated by the LPSC,” he said.

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Online: www.lpsc.louisiana.gov; www.fcc.gov.

Paper, service offer support group info

Where can I find information on support groups in town?

You can check the “Coming Up” listing that appears in the American Press’ Life section on Wednesdays and Sundays.

Additionally, you can visit 310info.org, a free referral service, or call 211, 310-4636 or 866-310-4636 weekdays between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

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The Informer answers questions from readers each Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. It is researched and written by Andrew Perzo, an American Press staff writer. To ask a question, call 494-4098 and leave voice mail, or email informer@americanpress.com.(MGNonline)