Big Utilities Are “Diabolical, Man!” – Mother Jones

Source: Big Utilities Are “Diabolical, Man!” – Mother Jones

David Roberts: Gas and electric utilities are major lobbyists. What are they pushing for?

David Pomerantz: They’re often the same company. But the gas utility sector is united in its aggressive political effort to stave off electrification of new buildings. They see that as an existential threat. Electric utilities not only have a role to play in the energy transition, but really the very central role. I wish more of them would get religion on that.

Roberts: So, an exclusively gas utility is destined for the trash bin of history and knows it, but some electric utilities seem hostile to distributed renewables like rooftop solar and the installation of transmission lines to move power between regions.

Pomerantz: Electric utilities make money when they build stuff. If people are putting solar panels on their roof or adopting efficiency technologies to use less electricity, the utilities don’t get to build as much stuff and they make less money—so they are opposed. Now, there are absolutely some electric utilities that have figured out they can make money by retiring coal and gas plants and building wind farms and utility-­scale solar farms instead. Xcel Energy coined the term “steel for fuel” to represent that change. But the dinosaurs—like Southern Company or Duke Energy or Entergy—are not there yet for largely cultural reasons. They just have a lot of groupthink in their C-suites, and they haven’t figured out that these solutions help profits and customers—that they’re good for everyone.

Roberts: It’s important for people to know that if your electricity generation and transmission are confined to your utility area, you’re stuck with the resources you have. Insofar as you can connect to other areas, you potentially get cheaper power. And utilities, especially the owners of plants that are getting those sky-high prices, don’t want that either.