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Robideaux discusses findings of LUS investigation

Outgoing Mayor-President Joel Robideaux presented several more issues at LUS FIber he says should be self-reported to the Public Service Commission.
Posted at 2:10 AM, Dec 18, 2019
and last updated 2019-12-18 11:17:07-05

LAFAYETTE — Outgoing Mayor-President Joel Robideaux presented more findings from his internal investigation of LUS and LUS Fiber at the beginning of the final meeting of the Lafayette City-Parish Council meeting on Tuesday.

Robideaux described to the council several more issues with LUS Fiber that he said should be self-reported to the Public Service Commission.

Robideaux reported that LUS Fiber ran at a loss from 2008 to 2015 when accounting for costs for affiliates - entities within the Lafayette Consolidated Government that use LUS Fiber - and non-affiliates, or private entities that use LUS Fiber.

According to Robideaux, LUS had loaned LUS Fiber a total of $27.7 million in an unusual and seemingly redundant business model that allowed LUS Fiber to split off from LUS, but still required it to pay out an open-ended lease to LUS in order for Fiber to build out its residential network.

Robideaux also highlighted several instances where LUS Fiber charged double and sometimes even quadruple the amount it charged to affiliates than non-affiliates.

His presentation indicated that these differences in charges had cost LUS ratepayers nearly $3 million over five years.

Robideaux stated that his findings showed a patter of revenue manipulation that seemed to benefit LUS Fiber. However, he repeatedly stated that nothing in his findings showed that anything wrong or illegal had taken place.