BATON ROUGE -- With frigid weather coming, many people are worried about their heating bills, questioning Delta Utilities about a steep increase in the cost.

To attempt to answer these questions, the company held a pop-up event where customers could receive one-on-one assistance from a Delta representative.

One of the most common complaints from customers revolved around levelized billing. Many said they were enrolled in levelized billing when Entergy was running their natural gas, but were not automatically re-enrolled once Delta Utilities took over in July, 2025.

"If you were on levelized billing with Entergy, it was levelized billing for your electric and your gas services. Now that your electric and gas services are on two different companies, you have to re-enroll at Delta to be on levelized billing," Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Davante Lewis said.

Several customers signed up for levelized billing at the event.

"Levelized billing looks at your usage history and then takes an average, and so you are able to predict your energy bill month to month, and then you don't have to deal with the challenges of the seasonal spikes. It'll take an average of the usage over the past seven months," Delta Utilities Vice President of Communications Sarah McLaughlin Porteous said.

Baton Rouge residents came to the event hoping to get answers on why their bills had jumped, some of which by more than 50 dollars.

"No one has given out any funds to reduce these bills; now this is what needs to be done. Not only do we have a high Delta bill, but I'm paying Entergy, too. We did not vote on them selling to Delta. Not one time has a Delta truck been seen in our neighborhood since they have taken over," Delta customer Patty Merrick said.

Lewis admits that there hasn't been great communication since Delta took over natural gas utilities in the area.

"What I think we failed to do, and I take personal responsibility, is explain exactly what you will see on a gas bill. There are cycles in gas bills, unlike water and electricity, where your usage is very stagnant; in gas utilities, you use a little bit less in the summer months. You use a little bit more in the winter months," Lewis said.

Lewis was asked about saying how the Delta Utilities CEO is scheduled to come before the Louisiana Public Service Commission next month.

"First of all, we have not heard from the CEO, he's not been before the commission since the acquisition in July. I think it's important, one for the introduction, but also based on the many complaints that I've heard from my constituents on services not being answered, the call center not being accountable," Lewis said.

WBRZ asked what happens if someone decides to move off levelized billing. Lewis says if your levelized billing had you paying below your usage rate, you have to pay the remaining portion. If you were paying more than your usage rate, you would get a credit for what you overpaid.

"'It's going to be different for every customer because remember, every customer has different appliances in their home, so it's going to be a little higher if you're using natural gas to heat your home," Sarah McLaughlin Porteous said.

There will be another pop-up event on Jan. 27 at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center on Gus Young Avenue. It will begin at 4 p.m.