More than 230 consumer, environmental, and public interest groups filed a petition requesting the Federal Trade Commission commence an Article 6(b) investigation of the electric utility industry’s abusive practices that impede renewable energy competition and harm consumer protection. The Energy and Policy Institute is a convening petitioner along with the Center for Biological Diversity, Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Open Markets Institute, and Solar United Neighbors.

The requested investigation would follow in the groundbreaking footsteps of the Commission’s Article 6(b) investigation of the electric utility industry from 1928-1935, which led to the enactment of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935. Congress, however, repealed the Act in 2005, worsening many of the abuses customers experience today.

The petition details widespread anti-competitive abuses by monopoly electric utilities across the country. These include bribery, fake dark-money campaigns, and denying customers access to renewable energy.