Category: Utilities

Tracking State Legislation to Get Politics Out of Utility Bills

Tracker: States protecting customers from paying for the political activities of utilities.

/ February 20, 2024

Southeastern Utilities Block Transmission Necessary for Decarbonization

Decarbonizing the economy will require a significant expansion of interstate and interregional transmission, but investor-owned utilities in the South, such as Southern Company and Entergy, have spent years undermining efforts...

/ February 7, 2024

As Rate Case Approached, Avangrid’s CEO Tried to Improperly Influence CT’s Utility Regulator, Documents Allege

Shortly before requesting a substantial rate increase in August of 2022, the CEO of Avangrid, which owns gas and electric utilities in Connecticut, tried to improperly influence the state’s top...

/ January 23, 2024

Legislators backed by Dominion contributions to appoint Virginia utility commissioners

UPDATE, 3 pm EST Jan 23, 2024: The Virginia House Labor and Commerce Committee announced Tuesday morning that Sam Towell and Kelsey Bagot are likely to fill the SCC Judge...

/ January 23, 2024

Virginia bill would bar utilities from charging customers for politics, joining other states

A Virginia lawmaker introduced a bill last week that, if passed, would prohibit the utilities Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power from charging customers for many of their political activities.  The...

/ January 17, 2024

Governor Lombardo prioritizes gas, eroding Nevada’s climate plan

Governor Joe Lombardo has eroded Nevada’s robust climate plan, one year into his first term. From appointing a fossil fuel executive to head the Office of Energy to pulling the...

/ December 18, 2023

Dominion Energy says data centers are “key industries” to the company but its South Carolina subsidiary may soon refuse them service

Dominion Energy South Carolina CEO Keller Kissam recently told lawmakers that he would be “fine” if the company did not pursue data centers as potential customers. But elsewhere within the...

/ December 6, 2023

Who’s who in former PUCO chairman Samuel Randazzo’s indictment? 

A federal grand jury has indicted former Public Utilities Commission of Ohio chairman Samuel Randazzo on bribery and fraud charges.  FirstEnergy is not named in the indictment, which was unsealed...

/ December 4, 2023

Utility campaign giving nears $500K as Michigan lawmakers weigh energy bills

DTE Energy and Consumers Energy PAC spending this year favors Democrats, who have a trifecta and have pledged to pass clean energy bills.

/ October 27, 2023

Potomac Edison faces Maryland audit after admitting it charged customers for FirstEnergy’s bribes and lobbying 

Maryland utility regulators ordered a new audit of Potomac Edison last week, after the FirstEnergy-owned utility admitted in a rate case that it owes nearly $1.7 million in refunds to...

/ October 26, 2023