· 2 min read
illuminem summarizes for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece here in The New York Times or enjoy below
🗞 Driving the news: Utility companies across the country are leveraging their political influence to impede transition, often lobbying using cash collected from their customers
• State regulators are responsible for ensuring that utility bills cover only the cost of delivering electricity or gas and limiting utility profits
🔭 The context: Utility companies, such as Florida Power & Light, hold monopolies over electricity and gas supply, they wield significant political power over the pace and success of essential transitions such as shifting all electricity generation to clean sources like wind and solar and converting vehicles, furnaces, and other appliances to run on clean electricity
🌎 Why does it matter for the planet: Unlike other corporations, utilities, as regulated monopolies, can compel customer participation and use their funds for political purposes
• The reforms enacted in Colorado, Connecticut, and Maine, which prohibit utilities from charging customers for political activities by curbing the influence of utilities make the clean energy transition proceed on a broader scale
⏭️ What's next: According to David Pomerant (Energy and Policy Institute), it is essential to enhance the enacted reforms by implementing mandatory enforcement provisions imposing significant and automatic fines for illegal charges ensuring full disclosure of political spending by utilities
💬 One quote: "Utilities are too central to the clean energy transition to be allowed to dictate our energy and climate policies based on their profit motives." (NYT Editorial)
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