BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) -- The Public Service Commission regulates the utility companies that determine some of the cost of electricity and water bills, among many other things. An open seat could determine which political side the board leans to. With an open seat on the five-person commission, whose districts cover more people than the congressional seats, a lot is riding on who wins this race. The seat is being vacated by Craig Greene, a Republican who would side with the two Democrats on some issues. Democrat and political newcomer Nick Laborde is up against two Republicans, former state Sen. Julie Quinn and current state Sen. Jean-Paul Coussan. On expanding green energy resources, they’re all for it. But Quinn and Coussan have some reservations about how far alternative energy sources should go in Louisiana. If landline phones are dying out, how do political polls work today? “While we want to invite those renewable sources,” Coussan said. “They're going to be lower probably than 10% of the overall power matrix. But there's also the economic issues of losing some of the farmland.” Coussan was on the House Agriculture Committee when he was a representative. He talked about how there is a growing concern about losing sugar cane farmland and forests to build solar farms. Laborde agrees there should not be a destruction of farmland, but rather more emphasis on more credits for solar panels on people’s homes and businesses. Quinn said she is against the “Green New Deal” which she said is being pushed by Democrats to speed up renewable energy use too quickly. “They have a goal of a certain percentage for our utility companies to generate electricity from renewables by 2028. That is putting a tremendous burden on these utility companies and it's unattainable,” Quinn said. As utility companies have to harden their grids against stronger storms, it will be the task of the PSC to ensure that the financial burden isn’t too heavily placed on consumers. “I think the direction of this commission is going to be decided by who wins this seat and we can hold those companies accountable by making them spend on these things,” Laborde said. “Yes, it is very expensive to bury power lines. But the alternative is everything just goes down quicker in these worsening storms.” “It does come down to votes and it does come down to negotiations. It comes down to economics. The presentations that they make over months and years to try to get the increases,” Coussan said. “If you're a good public service commissioner, you get involved in the forefront and you say, you know, I think you need all the grid improvements, but you don't need these extras in order so that we don't pass through all the $40 billion that's asked for,” Quinn said. Outside of utilities, Laborde said he wants to eliminate or reduce the cost of prison phone calls. He said it is vital for inmates to have contact with their loved ones to be more successful once they are released. Election Day in the US is approaching fast. Early voters have already started casting their ballots Quinn wants to focus on clean water regulation. The PSC has some regulation over those companies. She said it is unacceptable for any community in Louisiana to have brown or unsafe drinking water. Coussan has his eye on preserving natural gas production. After storms, there has been a shortage of fuel – which he wants to prevent. Election day is Nov. 5. Latest News Controversial MLB legend Pete Rose dies at 83 CVS to lay off nearly 3,000 employees LSP: Mississippi man accused of traveling to Baton Rouge for sex with teen arrested Pelicans star Zion Williamson still has Brandon Ingram as a wingman -- for now Salt Life is closing all stores across 10 states: See the full list of locations