ICYMI: Senator Dave Min Battles Utility Giants Over Ratepayer Rights
IRVINE, CA — Earlier this week, SB 938, a bill introduced by California State Senator Dave Min which would have prohibited investor-owned utilities from charging their political activities to ratepayers, failed by one vote in the Senate’s Energy and Utilities Committee. At a time when electric and gas utilities have been spiking, this commonsense bill would have ended the outrageous practices of utility companies like PG&E of lobbying regulators and legislators– including for rate increases to cover the costs of expensive new projects– and then sticking customers with the tab for these political activities.
“The failure of SB 938, which would have reined in the excessive political influence of the big utility companies, is a stark reminder that even in states like California, special interests wield far too much power over the legislative and regulatory process,” said Senator Min. “While I am disappointed in this result, I am undeterred. When I am elected to Congress, I will keep on fighting against corruption and undue influence by big businesses, just as I have done my whole career. Americans deserve a government that works for them, not for the highest bidder.”
Senator Min is the Democratic candidate running in the hotly contested race to succeed Katie Porter in California’s 47th Congressional District. The contrasts between Min and his Republican opponent Scott Baugh could not be starker. A former University of California Irvine Law Professor who began his legal career prosecuting corporate fraud at the SEC, Min has spent his career in public service fighting for a fairer economy and more transparency and integrity in our government. Scott Baugh, a career lobbyist who was indicted for 22 counts of campaign finance fraud and related charges and was also implicated in a criminal conspiracy to illegally register voters without their consent, has spent his career trying to use his high-level GOP connections to personally enrich himself. Min is the only candidate in this race who has sworn off corporate PAC money. And while Baugh has taken thousands of dollars in blood money from Big Oil and the gun lobby, Min is endorsed by Sierra Club and the Brady Campaign.
Min introduced SB 938 in response to news reports finding that investor-owned utilities had systematically engaged in political influence campaigns intended to weaken the laws and regulations overseeing them and also to lobby for more rate increases, and then had charged these activities to ratepayers. Last year, it came to light that the Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) had spent at least $36 million on political activities meant to undermine the state’s clean energy rules. More recently, PG&E admitted that its $6 million TV ad campaign to try to push for more rate increases was charged to ratepayers. Despite existing federal laws that technically prevent utilities from billing ratepayers for lobbying expenses, these regulations contain loopholes that have enabled utilities nationwide to use ratepayer funds for political lobbying.
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California’s 47th is an open Congressional District in Orange County that includes the Cities of Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Newport Beach, and Seal Beach, and portions of Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, and Laguna Woods. In 2022, Porter defeated former Assemblymember Republican Scott Baugh by 3.44% in this “toss-up” district. State Senator Dave Min currently represents over 80% of Congressional District 47 in Sacramento. In 2020, Min received over 158,000 votes within CA-47, defeating incumbent John Moorlach by 5.15% in this area. 19% of the registered voters in CA-47 are of Asian and Pacific Islander descent, including one of the largest Korean-American populations in the country.