Utilities are using OUR money to block clean energy

by: J.R. Tolbert

Every month I receive a bill from my utility that should be for the electricity I use and to maintain the electric grid that delivers that energy to my home. At first glance of my bill, that’s exactly what it looks like. Unfortunately, hidden in my utility bill are “operating costs” that my utility is using to pay for an army of lobbyists who want to weaken the Virginia Clean Economy Act and for its membership in Edison Electric Institute, which recently opposed measures to reduce pollution from power plants.

To be frank, it is complete BS that the utility is using my hard-earned money to block clean energy and climate action. I’m not saying the utility can’t advocate against clean energy (they shouldn’t), but it shouldn’t be allowed to use money from captive customers with no other option to do it. Shareholders who profit from utility investments, not customers, should pay for the utility’s political activities and advocacy.

Some states are taking action to stop utilities from using customer funds for political activities: Colorado, Connecticut, and Maine have all passed laws limiting this activity by the utility. Unfortunately, that means 47 other states haven’t taken action. You can learn more about this issue by reading this article.

While we love state action at Counterspark, this is an issue that is impacting the clean energy transition nationwide and deserves attention from the federal level. Without federal action, the worst offenders will continue to use customer funds to block climate action and clean energy deployment.

That’s why Counterspark is supporting HR 5075, which was introduced by Reps. Kathy Castor (FL-14), Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), and Sean Casten (IL-06) to outlaw this practice nationwide. Contact your member of Congress today to ask them to cosponsor. (If you live in a district with one of the current cosponsors, tweet a thanks to them here instead.)

Finally, send this post to a friend. Not enough people know that this is a problem. By letting others know and encouraging more people to take action, we can put an end to this scourge that makes our bills too high.