Category: Utilities

CenterPoint boosts CEO pay to $37.8 million, blowing past other utilities

David Lesar’s hefty raise comes as CenterPoint customers face soaring utility bills

/ April 19, 2022

CenterPoint Using Free Vacations, Customer Cash to Sell Builders on Gas Appliances

CenterPoint asked regulators for $239,958 per year for gas water heater incentives

/ February 23, 2022

Southwest Gas and NV Energy-funded groups advocate in favor of gas in Nevada’s “future of gas” docket 

Several groups calling on the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) for the continued use and expansion of fossil gas infrastructure in the state have ties to Southwest Gas and...

/ February 9, 2022

AEP admits in court: Its corporate accountability reports are mere “puffery”

Lawyers for American Electric Power (AEP) described statements made in the electric utility’s annual corporate accountability reports as mere corporate “puffery” and a federal judge agreed. In an order issued...

/ December 21, 2021

Xcel Ramps Up Municipal Spending in Hometown Mayoral Election

Utility executives and lobbyists gave thousands to Mayor Jacob Frey, who won his re-election

/ December 16, 2021

Southwest Gas aims to make customers pay for its American Gas Association membership dues

Southwest Gas Corporation is asking Nevada regulators to allow it to charge its customers in Nevada hundreds of thousands of dollars in dues to support the gas utility’s membership in...

/ December 15, 2021

CenterPoint Energy Hinges Future on Gas Expansion Despite Net-Zero Pledge

Executives told analysts that they expect to add 800 miles of new gas pipeline annually

/ November 29, 2021

American Electric Power-backed dark money group spent over $1.5 million in 2020

Empowering Ohio’s Economy, a group funded solely by American Electric Power, contributed more than $1.5 million to dark money groups in 2020, according to the organization’s tax filings. The source...

/ November 22, 2021

Who knew about bribes paid during FirstEnergy Solutions’ bankruptcy and House Bill 6 bailout campaign?

FirstEnergy Solutions’ board and management knew about plans to contribute $40 million to Generation Now, a 501(c)(4) group associated with then Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, in the midst of...

/ November 16, 2021

DeWine raked in campaign money from AEP after the utility revealed a subpoena from the SEC

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine received $25,500 in campaign contributions from American Electric Power’s PAC and some of the electric utility’s top executives one month after AEP revealed it received a...

/ August 2, 2021