LOUISIANA - Politics can be a pretty polarizing topic of conversation. OK, who am I kidding, it is a VERY polarizing topic of conversation. With elections heating up in Louisiana and around the U.S., having a little bit of humor involved in a campaign is much needed breath of fresh air.
And leave it to Louisiana to provide that breath of fresh air.
Chris Justin, a licensed professional engineer who is running for Public Service Commissioner out of the New Orleans area is fed up with the skyrocketing energy bills, fix Louisiana's power grid issues, and put a stop to what he says is wasteful spending by the Public Service Commission.
To bring attention to his campaign, he's launched an ad and a website that is certainly beginning to do just that.
Welcome to servicemypole.org.
Who Is Chris Justin?
According to his campaign, Justin has more than 15 years of experience working in engineering, energy policy and regulatory matters.
He says his professional background includes working as a process engineer at the Shell Norco Refinery, where he evaluated energy performance and investments designed to improve efficiency.
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Justin later worked as an energy policy consultant with Emergent Grid Solutions. His campaign says that work included advising the Louisiana Public Service Commission on energy-efficiency programs, cost-effectiveness standards and utility spending.
He describes himself as an engineer rather than a traditional politician, and he is running without a party affiliation.
His campaign also points to what it calls roughly $12.8 million in annual "ghost charges" as an example of spending that Justin believes should be eliminated.
Justin's Position On Louisiana's Power Grid
Grid reliability is another major part of Justin's campaign.
One of his proposals is to require utilities to address infrastructure problems before receiving approval for additional rate increases. His campaign says the goal is to improve reliability while limiting additional costs for customers.
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Justin has also has an unconventional campaign to draw attention to Louisiana's aging electrical infrastructure, and this is exactly why we're writing about him.
What Is Servicemypole.org?
Chris Justin has a website called servicemypole.org where he wants people around Louisiana to upload photos of aging, leaning, neglected utility poles so that if elected, he can help to do something about it.
He has also shot a campaign video to go along with servicemypole.org that is absolutely unlike an campaign ad you've ever seen. Ever.
Oh, and no, this is not a joke...well it is, but Chris Justin is very serious about this issue and is pretty brilliantly using humor to bring attention to it.
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Gallery Credit: Jude Walker