![]() ![]() Regulations mandating public disclosure of dark money utility political spending are rare at the state level. They often bear generic or patriotic-sounding names, rarely disclose their funding sources and transfer large amounts of money between themselves. ![]() That’s because the groups which receive the donations can be mysterious. It took a subpoena from a regulator to finally prove in 2019 that the company had been behind the political spending. In 2017, they went on to support the power company’s request for a $95m-a-year increase in electric bills, which ultimately was passed down to customers. The two Republican commissioners backed by the groups won. This was a scenario in Arizona when, in 2014, power company Arizona Public Service gave $10.7m to dark money groups that donated to key regulatory commission races. To be funding lobbying against clean energy and climate that customers actually want goes against the public interest,” said Jean Su, a senior attorney at environmental group Center for Biological Diversity. In another instance of ethically questionable actions, Florida Power and Light (FPL) used dark money to interfere with ballot initiatives, and the elections of five politicians who in part aimed to tackle the high prices of electric bills and environmental and climate goals. In 2021 in Ohio, FirstEnergy Corporation pleaded guilty to using dark money groups to bribe politicians in exchange for bailouts. Sometimes, power company dark money giving hides illegality. In Michigan, regulators barred another company from using dark money entirely after it spent $43m on politics in just three years. In Arizona and Alabama, power companies faced blowback after they used dark money to aid the election of friendly regulators. ![]() While dark money giving to tax-exempt groups is legal, a number of utilities have faced criticism for it. Such secretive donations to barely regulated non-profit groups have helped utilities increase electricity prices, hinder solar schemes and helped elect sympathetic legislators in recent years. ![]()
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