Ratepayer cash for political influence

Investor-owned utility companies spend big on political lobbying across New England (part 1)

For this week’s newsletter, we take a look at the recent lobbying spending of investor-owned utility companies across New England. In a region where the fossil fuel industry has a relatively small presence, these utility companies are often the strongest opposition to any climate action that might disrupt the status quo. In particular, these companies (think Eversource, National Grid, Avangrid, and Unitil) tend to oppose rooftop solar programs, which allow customers to sell electricity back to the grid and can cut into their profits.

Across the region, investor-owned utilities operate with regulated monopolies to provide their customers with power and natural gas. Customers in their distribution zones have no choice over who provides them with these essential services — at most, they may have some choice over their electricity supplier (who they pay for power generation). For virtually every major utility company, profits made from these guaranteed customers are then used to lobby state governments on a whole host of energy issues, which can ultimately have major consequences for climate policy (along with the rates customers pay and the quality of the service they get).

So how much are the utility companies spending on lobbying?

It depends on your state — but in general, a lot. Looking through publicly available lobbying records, I counted up all lobbying contributions made so far this year by the major electricity and gas providers for each of the New England states.

For a quick disclaimer, laws around lobbying disclosures vary significantly by state. Some of the state disclosure websites are easy to use (Massachusetts, Vermont), while others are a complete pain in the ass (New Hampshire, Connecticut). Disclosures are sometimes filed separately for the different subsidiaries of one parent company, so I can’t promise that I haven’t missed a few things here or there. But I hope that this can provide my readers with a baseline understanding of this often-underreported sphere of political influence.

Connecticut

In Connecticut, the main utility players are Eversource and Avangrid, which control the vast majority of gas and electricity distribution in the state. Through the first six months of this year, these companies have spent a combined $644,933 on lobbying in the state.

Since the start of 2021, Eversource has been the third largest spender on lobbying in the state, with expenses totaling a whopping $1,497,701. The majority of this money has gone to legislative lobbying, while about $100k went to administrative lobbying. Already this year, the company has registered $534,052 in lobbying contributions.

Avangrid, the parent company of United Illuminating, Southern Connecticut Gas, and Connecticut Natural Gas, has spent $110,880 on lobbying over the first six months of this year.

Maine

Gas and eclectic utilities in Maine have spent a cumulative $134,922 on lobbying since the start of this year. The state has two investor-owned electric utilities, Central Maine Power (owned by Avangrid) and Versant (owned by ENMAX). Gas distribution is provided separately, by four different companies: Bangor Gas, Maine Natural Gas (Avangrid), Summit Natural Gas, and Northern/Unitil.

Avangrid registered its lobbying under several subsidiaries: Central Maine Power (CMP), Maine Natural Gas, NECEC Transmission, and Maine Affordable Energy (a ballot question committee entirely funded by the company). Grouped together, these subsidiaries have spent $93,096 this year.

Versant, which has a smaller customer base in the state than Avangrid/CMP, spent $41,040.

As I reported last week, CMP/Avangrid and Versant/ENMAX have also spent millions in the effort to stop a potential state ballot question that would trigger a consumer takeover of Maine’s private electric utilities.

Massachusetts

Collectively, investor-owned utilities in Massachusetts have spent $438,787 on lobbying through the first six months of this year.

National Grid, Eversource, and Unitil are the electric companies, while the gas companies are Berkshire Gas, Eversource, National Grid, Liberty Utilities, and Unitil. Unsurprisingly, utility giants Eversource ($180,000) and National Grid ($138,769) have been the largest spenders in the state.

New Hampshire

Investor-owned utilities in New Hampshire have spent $191,800 on lobbying this year. Eversource was responsible for the majority of this spending ($156,300) followed by Unitil ($18,000) and Liberty Utilities ($17,500).

Rhode Island

National Grid, only investor-owned gas and electric utility company in Rhode Island, recently sold its holdings in the state to the Pennsylvania-based PPL Corporation.

Through the first half of this year, National Grid has spent $14,000 on lobbying, while PPL spent $40,000. These add up to $54,000 in total lobbying from investor-owned utilities in the state.

Vermont

Vermont Gas Systems (Vermont’s only investor-owned gas utility) and Green Mountain Power (the state’s only investor-owned electric utility) have spent a combined $74,020 on lobbying this year. Notably, these two companies are both owned by Noverco, a Canadian investment holding company.

What to make of it?

Altogether, this adds up to over $1.5 million in lobbying from investor-owned utility companies across New England in the first half of this year ($1,538,461.90 to be exact). While there are a multitude of consumer-owned municipal utilities across the region (serving far less customers), if you live in New England, your money is probably contributing to this lobbying.

The scale of utility lobbying alone is noteworthy and concerning, given the history of these utility companies opposing climate action. So, what have they been lobbying for and against this year? Stay tuned — I’ll try to answer that question on next week’s newsletter!

Climate News Roundup

Connecticut

• Connecticut public schools are now required to teach about climate change as a part of their science curriculum (Yale Climate Connections)

Maine

• In a setback for environmental advocates, Maine’s Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the 2021 referendum stopping a controversial CMP transmission corridor was likely unconstitutional (Dan Neumann — Maine Beacon)

Massachusetts

• Cambridge is temporarily switching its drinking water source after finding elevated levels of cancer-causing PFAS (Associated Press)

• Several prominent environmental advocates in the state called out an ad for attorney general candidate Shannon Liss-Riordan as misleading on her environmental record (David Abel — The Boston Globe)

New Hampshire

• Most New Hampshire schools aren’t prepared to deal with the increasing levels of extreme heat (Sarah Gibson — NHPR)

Rhode Island

• The Community College of Rhode Island will offer a new offshore wind training program, utilizing a combination of industry, labor, and government funding (Philip Cozzolino — Newport This Week)

Vermont

• Vermont Edition outlined the implications of the Inflation Reduction Act on climate action in Vermont (Vermont Public)

Region-wide

• A look into New England’s climate future, featuring increased summer droughts, crop failures, and depleted aquifers (Miriam Wasser — WBUR)

• Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont were all notified by the EPA that they missed the deadline to submit a plan to reduce air pollution (Zack Budryk — The Hill)