§502. Declaration of energy emergency; purpose of Chapter

            A. It is the determination of the legislature that existing and impending shortages of natural gas and other fossil fuels caused by inadequate domestic production, environmental constraints, impediments to the intrastate transportation of natural gas, and the unavailability of imports sufficient to satisfy domestic demand have caused, and will cause curtailment of vital public services, severe economic dislocations and hardships, including loss of jobs, closing of factories and businesses, and reduction of crop planting and harvesting, and, thus, there exists a serious threat to the health, safety and welfare of the residents of the state of Louisiana creating a statewide energy emergency, which is part of a nationwide energy emergency. These conditions require that the state of Louisiana provide for an agency to assume primary governmental responsibility for developing and enforcing emergency energy shortage contingency plans; to implement and administer delegations of authority in this area to the state by the federal government; for dealing with existing and anticipated dislocations, shortages, distribution and transportation difficulties; to protect, conserve and replenish the natural resources of the state, and to prohibit and prevent the waste, wasteful use and wasteful utilization of natural gas, and to prevent the use of natural gas in such a manner and in such quantities as to threaten the premature exhaustion, extinction and destruction of the supply of natural gas in the state; to enforce the mandatory conservation, allocation, rationing, and safe and efficient transportation of these hydrocarbons and provide for an increase in available supplies of the state's energy resources, particularly the production, and safe and efficient transportation and use of natural gas, utilizing wholly intrastate facilities, in order to minimize the adverse effect of such shortages on the economy and industrial capacity of the state. The state must insure that measures will be taken to meet these existing emergencies and to conform as nearly as practical with national commitments and national requirements governing the transportation, distribution, and use of energy resources, and particularly to assure the best utilization for the benefit of the public of such natural gas as remains within the control and direction of the state of Louisiana.

            B. The purpose for which this Chapter is enacted is to protect and conserve the natural energy resources of the state, and prevent the physical and economic waste, wasteful use and wasteful utilization thereof, through the development and implementation of a comprehensive energy policy for the state of Louisiana which will regulate the use, end-use, production, transportation, conservation, sale and prices of the state's energy resources, improve the available transportation facilities for movement of intrastate natural gas between the different parts of the state, provide for the equitable distribution of energy supplies to the residents and the commercial and industrial users of these energy supplies; and insure the maintenance of the highest practical level of energy supplies commensurate with the general health, safety, welfare and prosperity of the state.

            C. This Chapter is enacted under the police power of the state, the residuum of the state's power not delegated to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States and the authority of the legislature under the Constitution of Louisiana, including Paragraphs (C) and (D) of Section 1 of Article VI of the Constitution of Louisiana.

            D. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, this Chapter shall not apply to natural gas, not to exceed twenty five million cubic feet per day, owned or purchased by a person at or near the field where produced and transported by the purchaser through his own pipeline solely for his own consumption or to gas acquired, through an exchange of any portion of such gas, solely for his own consumption; provided that such gas may be made subject to the provisions of Part IV of this Chapter in cases where the secretary finds that an extreme emergency exists impairing gas otherwise required for the priorities set forth in R.S. 30:572(1)(a), (b), (c), (d), and (e) which cannot be substantially otherwise provided for.

            E. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, Parts IV, V, VI, and VII of this Chapter and provisions of Part III relating to excess capacity shall not apply to synthetic gas which is produced from coal, lignite, or petroleum coke for use and consumption solely within the state of Louisiana, and the heat content of which synthetic gas does not exceed 800 BTUs per standard cubic foot. All other provisions of this Chapter, however, shall be applicable to such gas.

            Added by Acts 1973, Ex.Sess., No. 16, §1, emerg. eff. Dec. 8, 1973, at 9:55 A.M. Amended by Acts 1980, No. 119, §1; Acts 2025, No. 458, §1, eff. Oct. 1, 2025.