Matt Kasper

EPI's @mattkasper.bsky.social testified before the Maryland Economic Matters Committee yesterday in support of the Ratepayer Freedom Act (HB960).

Data centers use lots of energy. Georgia lawmakers might make them pay more The Georgia General Assembly is considering legislation that would require Georgia Power to charge data centers for the costs they incur to serve them.

"Many data centers demand 100 megawatts or more of electricity, and some planned in Georgia need 1,000 megawatts to keep their servers humming, according to public filings. That’s nearly equal to the maximum output of one of Plant Vogtle’s new nuclear reactors." www.ajc.com/news/busines...

Trump-Vance cutting off utility bill aid. Especially harsh considering bills currently going out are extraordinarily high due to the cold snap in January.

How many people will lose power?

www.rocketcitynow.com/article/news...

Drilled website documents section

So far the documents from the investigations into climate disinformation seem to be online still, but if they're taken down (as the first ones were), we've got them available for you at Drilled:
1st round: drilled.media/documents/5e...
2024: drilled.media/documents/82...

Rate of Return Equals Cost of Capital: A Simple, Fair Formula to Stop Investor-Owned Utilities From Overcharging the Public - American Economic Liberties Project A new paper shedding light on how investor-owned utilities overcharge ratepayers through excessive rates of return, and offering concrete recommendations to ensure rates are fair and aligned with the ...

Mark Ellis worked at Sempra for 15 years, was Chief of Corporate Strategy.

Now he's saying that:

- Wall Street-owned utilities wildly over-profit.
- It costs Americans $50bn/year.
- They use junk math to justify it.
- Regulators let them do it.

www.economicliberties.us/our-work/rat...

Xcel sold land for a data center. It was flipped to Amazon for 10 times more money. Minnesota utility regulators say they didn’t know the buyer’s intentions when they approved the deal.

Soon after Xcel Energy sold land in $7.7 million no-bid sale, the buyer flipped it for nearly 10x as much. Xcel claimed it was getting the best deal, but its customers effectively missed out on $65 million in proceeds that could've helped offset a rate increase. www.startribune.com/xcel-said-a-...

getting uploaded now here. waiting to see the energy one. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

Cleco in Louisiana I believe. Private equity looking to buy ALLETE right now.

@alissajean.bsky.social and @tysonslocum.bsky.social may know of others.

Chris Wright: Trump’s pick for Energy Secretary is a longtime member of Charles Koch’s political donor network Chris Wright is the CEO of Liberty Energy and Donald Trump's nominee for Energy Secretary. He's also a member of Charles Koch's political donor network.

Fracking exec Chris Wright, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Energy, wrote in 2014 that he wanted “to help the poor, as do the Koch brothers.” Wright is a member of billionaire Charles Koch’s network of political donors, which has long opposed the minimum wage. energyandpolicy.org/chris-wright...

"“FYI … the African American org officially launched last week. More to come. Thoughts/Ideas welcome,” David Holt, CEA’s president, wrote in an email that month to CEA’s board of directors."

With Trump nominating former FERC Commissioner James Danly to be the next deputy secretary of Energy, highlighting @mirandawrites.bsky.social story from November detailing the coordination to fight various climate policies

More data center - fossil fuel news.

Coal company Hallador Energy is finalizing an agreement with an unnamed data center developer. Data center would secure Hallador's energy and capacity for over a decade. halladorenergy.com/news-events/...

Utilities partnering with RGA for a fundraiser for Donald Trump's inauguration next month. Someone send me one of those $7,500 koozies!

documented.net/swamp-dollar...

Reminder: Tim Ryan is a paid fossil fuel mouthpiece The next time you see this man on MSNBC giving Democrats advice in a football sweatshirt, remember: he’s paid $250,000 a year to hype up methane gas.

SCOOP: Tim Ryan, a former U.S. Congressman, was paid $250,000 last year by a fossil fuel lobbying group to promote methane gas as "clean energy"

Ryan promoted gas on MSNBC as recently as last week, with no disclosure of his position with the lobbying group

From me and @ariellesamuel.bsky.social

Our new @energyandpolicy.bsky.social report takes a deep look the problem of utilities using customer money to fund lobbying, brand-enhancing “goodwill” ads, and other unnecessary costs.

energyandpolicy.org/report-utili...

UAW and SEIU throw support behind legislation limiting political contributions from utilities • Michigan Advance The United Auto Workers (UAW) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) have joined a chorus of organizations in Michigan calling for action on bills that would restrict certain corporations fr...

SEIU is the second major union to come out in support of Michigan legislation that would restrict utility political contributions after UAW President Shawn Fain sent lawmakers a letter urging its passage last week. So far, Dem leaders have blocked the bill. michiganadvance.com/briefs/uaw-a...

There’s a lot to unpack in new reporting on secret funds for Michigan lawmakers.

1 Dem is running hers out of her home. She chairs a powerful committee

1 Republican freely admitted he doesn’t know who puts money in his “gas” fund or why
www.detroitnews.com/story/news/p...

@craigmauger.bsky.social

Tax records show dark money groups affiliated with DTE Energy and Consumers Energy gave $1.47 million in recent years to secret accounts linked to Michigan lawmakers, identified by the Detroit News. This is on top of both utilities' substantial PAC giving.

Receipts: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Our @energyandpolicy.bsky.social team is growing!
We're adding a research and comms manager to lead our investigations in key states, with a specific focus on TX. If you have experience in journalism, politics, research or advocacy, please consider joining us!

energyandpolicy.org/research-and...

Duke Energy Knew Report documents how Duke Energy knew about the climate change risks of burning fossil fuels by the 1980s, before it funded climate denial.

NEW: We have a new report out today authored by EPI’s @cleantechfacts & @sue_sturgis that documents what #DukeEnergyKnew about climate change decades ago. energyandpolicy.org/duke-energy-...

New documents released by TVA after a FOIA lawsuit by @energyandpolicy.bsky.social show the immediacy with which the former UARG lawyers set up UARG-like entities at McGuireWoods.

energyandpolicy.org/tva-pgen-fig...

ComEd lured TikTok historian out of safe union job, then fired him Popular Chicago historian Shermann Dilla Thomas had a six-figure day job at ComEd; then he took the CEO's suggestion and ended up canned.

"Once the TikToks happened, I started to get press and ComEd reached out... They wanted me to wear a ComEd hat in my videos. A ComEd shirt. To make sure ComEd branding was there."

ComEd lured TikTok historian out of safe union job, then fired him

chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2...

14 House seats are still undecided. Before the election, we looked at how utilities had contributed in these races. We found many heavily favored Republican candidates.
energyandpolicy.org/utility-indu...