C0564968EBB22BEC872589780073E77D Hearing Summary

PUBLIC
BILL SUMMARY For PRESENTATION FROM ENERGY & POLICY INSTITUTE

OTHER COMMITTEE COMMITTEE ON JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE ON RISING UTILITY RATES
Date Mar 20, 2023
Location LSB A

Presentation from Energy & Policy Institute - Committee Discussion Only

Attachment Tag

File Name

Attachment

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.

Presentation from Energy & Policy Institute - Committee Discussion Only

Colorado General Assembly