C0564968EBB22BEC872589780073E77D Hearing Summary CLICS/CLICS2023A/commsumm.nsf PUBLICBILL SUMMARY For PRESENTATION FROM ENERGY & POLICY INSTITUTEOTHER COMMITTEE COMMITTEE ON JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE ON RISING UTILITY RATESDate Mar 20, 2023 Location LSB A Presentation from Energy & Policy Institute - Committee Discussion Only Attachment Tag File Name Attachment http://www2.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2023A/commsumm.nsf/0/444D352A8A6C...$File/Attachment B.pdf?OpenElement Attachment B.pdf 03:06:00 PM David Pomerantz, Executive Director, Energy & Policy Institute (EPI), introduced himself and explained the mission of EPI. Mr. Pomerantz's presentation is included as Attachment B. Mr. Pomerantz gave an overview of his presentation on utility use of ratepayer money for inappropriate causes. Mr. Pomerantz gave examples from across the United States of illegal bribery and dark money practices by utilities. Mr. Pomerantz then went over cases that were not necessarily illegal, but were unfair or deceptive acts by the utilities. Mr. Pomerantz clarified that Colorado has not experienced any scandals of that level. Mr. Pomerantz went over utilities' customer-funded political machines as well as those paid out of utilities's profits in Colorado. Mr. Pomerantz explained how political influence costs drive up rates. 03:17:06 PM Mr. Pomerantz then went over recent Colorado rate case expenses. He discussed Colorado utility donations and trade association dues. Mr. Pomerantz went over what the American Gas Association (AGA) spends on advertising, public relations, and social media influencers with Coloradan's money, noting that none of these activities meet the AGA's definition of lobbying. He also went over what Edison Electric Institute (EEI) does with Coloradan's money. 03:24:11 PM Mr. Pomerantz discussed trade associations lobbying against transparency. Mr. Pomerantz pointed out that the Colorado PUC has a policy that advertising expenses be taken out of rates, unlike many other states. Finally, Mr. Pomerantz explained that utilities claim they do not charge customers for lobbying, but that what utilities actually consider to be lobbying is limited. Mr. Pomerantz went over utilities's definitions of lobbying and possible gaps in Colorado's current reporting. Mr. Pomerantz went over a report EPI put out earlier this year that may contain some policy actions the General Assembly could take. Mr. Pomerantz closed withexamples of actions taken by other states to hold utilities more accountable. 03:35:39 PM Mr. Pomerantz answered questions from the committee on best practices in other states. Mr. Pomerantz answered questions about how to classify misinformation versus opinions on policy. Mr. Pomerantz answered questions on whether EPI has a preferred model. Mr. Pomerantz answered a question about who funds the EPI. Mr. Pomerantz answered a question about whether there have been studies done on the exact impact on rates of some of these policy suggestions.