Southern Company’s Big Bets Lead to Loss of Gulf Power
On May 21st, Southern Company decided to part ways with its almost 100- year-old subsidiary, Gulf Power, due in large part to failed bets the company made on its scuttled Kemper coal plant and budget-busting Vogtle nuclear plant. The loss...
Big-Dollar Contributors with Ties to Georgia Power and Southern Company Bet on Pridemore, Eaton for Georgia PSC
Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) incumbents Tricia Pridemore and Chuck Eaton each received approximately two-thirds of their campaign contributions from people or companies associated with regulated entities such as Georgia Power, according to an Energy and Policy Institute analysis of...
Georgia PSC messages reveal cozy relationship with Georgia Power, possible ex parte communications
Records from Georgia PSC Commissioner Tim Echols show him using Georgia Power's talking points instead of PSC Staff's analysis, collaborating with utility on media efforts. The documents raise questions about ex parte communications and records retention.
Will the U.S. Chamber continue to fight the EPA’s endangerment finding in 2018?
Update January 10, 2018: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce confirmed today it is no longer trying to overturn the EPA’s endangerment finding for greenhouse gas emissions, but top U.S. Chamber officials still continued to mislead on climate science and align with...
Dalton Utilities Stonewalls Georgia PSC, Public on Vogtle Information Affecting its Customers
As 1.6% owners of the Vogtle nuclear power plant, customers of Dalton Utilities may be wondering how much they will be on the hook for cost overruns, especially as the Georgia Public Service Commission is about to make a decision...
Stan Wise may be gift-wrapping an early Christmas present for Georgia Power at customers’ expense
In an apparent gift to Georgia Power, Public Service Commission Chairman Stan Wise unilaterally decided to speed up the timeline for a decision about whether the monopoly utility could continue charging its customers for its over-budget, long-delayed Vogtle nuclear power...
Electric utilities working with oil and gas companies on ‘advocacy’ efforts to counter environmentalists
The electric utility industry, through its trade association the Edison Electric Institute, has begun working with three other fossil fuel groups to push back against organizations that oppose increased natural gas investment in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions....
Candidate for Florida Governorship Pledges To Stop Accepting Utility Contributions
“It’s time the utilities stop spending money on political candidates and instead protect the residents of this state." - Senator Jack Latvala
Utility lobbyist praises response to Hurricane Irma power outages in the media
A lobbyist for Consumer Energy Alliance-Florida praised several utilities for their response to Hurricane Irma in a letter to the editor published by Jacksonville.com, but did not disclose that some of those same utilities are members of his group. Kevin...
Decades before Harvey and Irma, electric utilities knew climate change could fuel more powerful storms and still funded denial
A 1987 study sponsored by the electric utility industry warned that climate change could one day fuel more powerful storms, some thirty years before hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Despite this early knowledge, by 1989 some powerful utility interests had joined...