BATON ROUGE - On Tuesday, candidates running to fill the two open seats on the Louisiana Public Service Commission spoke to voters at a summit hosted by the Pelican Institute of Public Policy.

Ten candidates are on the ballot for the May primary election. The Pelican Institute said seven candidates spoke at Tuesday's forum.

The District 1 seat, held by Commissioner Eric Skrmetta, covers parts of southeastern Louisiana. Skrmetta started on the commission in 2009.

According to the Secretary of State's website, Connie Norris is running unopposed on the Democratic Party's ballot in the May primary for District 1. On the Republican ballot, Wallace "Wayne" Cooper, Stephanie Hilferty, "Big John" Mason, Mark Wright and John Young are running to be the candidate.

The District 5 seat covers north Louisiana and is currently held by Commissioner Foster Campbell. He took office in 2003.

In 2008, Louisiana voters approved setting term limits for the LPSC. Those elected can serve up to three 6-year-long terms.

The Secretary of State lists four candidates running in the primary for District 5. On the Democratic ticket are James Edward Green and Austin Lawson. For the Republican side, John Atkins and Aiden Joyner.

Candidate Christopher "Chris" Justin is running as an independent for the November election.

The Pelican Institute said Hilferty, Joyner, Wright, Mason, Atkins, Young, and Justin spoke to voters.

The Pelican Institute said this upcoming election cycle is important because it could determine the future of energy in the state. Recent polling from the institute showed two-thirds of voters report higher electric and gas bills. Another poll from the group shared that eight out of ten people blame those higher bills in part on the state government and the Public Service Commission.