Georgia Power Gets its Wish as Foes Fume
March 1, 2009
By Margaret Newkirk, Aaron Gould Sheinin, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In a deepening recession, a Republican-dominated Legislature with a strong aversion to increasing taxes last week approved a bill allowing Georgia Power to charge customers early for nuclear reactors.
Georgia Power says the bill's success speaks to its merits. Critics -- ranging from consumer advocates to conservative bloggers -- point to the company's powerful lobbying effort: businesslike, efficient and devastatingly effective.
The company supplemented its year-round statehouse lobbying team with five of the biggest, most connected names in Georgia. It pulled in its law firm, registered its chief executive as a lobbyist and spent thousands buying lawmakers meals and sports tickets, burnishing its reputation as the most polished lobbying outfit around.
It was a textbook example of how to get one's way at the Capitol, said state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur), who opposed the bill. She meant it as a compliment.
"They're comfortable with all of us," she told fellow House members before Thursday's vote. "They extend themselves to all of us."
Less than an hour after Oliver spoke, SB 31 passed and was sent to Gov. Sonny Perdue for his signature -- among the first bills approved this legislative session. House members were in such a hurry that they broke with tradition and left hundreds of House bills waiting while they OK'd a Senate bill.
Georgia Power says the bill is a good deal for consumers and will hold down costs as it builds two new reactors at its Vogtle nuclear plant near Augusta.
"We think the bill passed because it provides millions of dollars in savings for customers, it phases in the [reactors'] costs and lowers the overall rate impact," spokeswoman Christy Heiser said. "The bill makes additional reactors an option for our future."
House Majority Leader Jerry Keen (R-St. Simons Island) scoffed at speculation that pressure from Georgia Power and its lobbyists propelled the bill forward.
"I've heard the media say there was pressure," he said. "I never heard it, saw it, felt it at all. I read the bill. It's sort of the unique thing I do, I read the facts of the bill, I listened to the arguments, sat down and looked at it."
To SB 31's critics, though, the bill's unusually swift passage is proof of what they say has been true for years: It's awfully tough to beat Georgia Power at the Capitol. The company's political reach is so deep that even the governor's chief of staff, Ed Holcombe, is a former Georgia Power lobbyist.
The company's political influence, consumer lobbyist Jim Kulstad said, "is insidious."
Big industries left out
SB 31 allows Georgia Power to charge customers an estimated $1.6 billion in financing charges and an additional $400 million in related taxes between 2011, when construction of two nuclear reactors begins, and 2017, when the reactors are done.
The utility's portion of the total estimated $14 billion cost will be $6.4 billion.
Georgia Power says the early charges protect its bond rating in addition to lowering the reactors' overall cost by about $300 million.
Opponents included AARP, radio consumer expert Clark Howard, consumer group Georgia Watch and conservative blogs such as Peach Pundit and Political Vine.
They said the bill allowed Georgia Power investors to earn a profit on the reactors before they're built and that legislators were doing an end run around the state Public Service Commission, the utility regulator that was due to vote on the same issue this month.
Georgia Power began lobbying for its plan last summer, months before it had been assigned a bill number.
It defanged powerful potential opponents -- Georgia's biggest industries, which objected to paying the early higher rate -- by largely exempting them from the bill.
Still, SB 31's opposition appeared to be gaining traction in the past two weeks.
Conservative bloggers, including Erick Erickson of Peach Pundit, were furious with GOP leaders for backing the bill.
Erickson, a Macon blogger who also runs the national Web site RedState.com, organized a campaign to derail the bill. Erickson said he favors nuclear power but that SB 31 would benefit Georgia Power and the state's biggest businesses at the expense of other consumers and businesses.
In an interview, Erickson said he thinks the company and legislative leaders moved the bill so quickly rather than allow criticism to build.
"Once we started opposing it and people started getting phone calls, people started rushing it down the pike," he said.
‘Relationships win'
SB 31 opponents credit Georgia Power's lobbying prowess with the bill's victory.
"This happens because lobbyists are allowed to give, literally, completely unlimited gifts to senators and representatives," said Rep. Rob Teilhet (D-Smyrna), who called SB 31 a "breathtakingly bad bill for Georgia consumers."
"Georgia Power has given hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts and liquor and baseball tickets to legislators, currying their favor."
In the three months before the Legislature convened, Georgia Power lobbyists spent more than $14,000 on lawmakers and other state officials, according to State Ethics Commission reports.
Of that, $8,000 went to meals, sports tickets and other gifts to 68 lawmakers who voted on SB 31. All but $700 went to lawmakers who later voted to approve the bill.
The spending included about $100 for two dinners with Sen. David Shafer (R-Duluth), chairman of the Senate Regulated Industries Committee, which first approved the bill; more than $300 for lunch for the entire Senate committee; $795 for dinners and sporting events for House Speaker Pro Tem Mark Burkhalter (R-Johns Creek); and about $100 for three meals with Sen. Don Balfour (R-Snellville), the primary sponsor of the bill.
Georgia Power hired some deeply connected lobbyists to help make its case, including former Senate Majority Leader Pete Robinson, former Senate Minority Leader Arthur "Skin" Edge and former Natural Resources Commissioner Joe Tanner.
Bill opponents such as Oliver and Rep. Brian Thomas (D-Lilburn) say it's a mistake to link the utility's success with lawmakers with campaign money or sports tickets. They say Georgia Power's lobbying operation has left the company with a deep reservoir of goodwill. Oliver said Georgia Power's lobbyists avoid the kind of back-slapping that often goes with the lobbying territory.
Instead of relying solely on the most powerful lawmakers, "My understanding is that they spoke with every single legislator," Thomas said. "I had two meetings with them on this."
"They are very thorough in their outreach, and they do a very good job of talking to you even when the session is out, whether they have issues or not.
"It absolutely helps them," Thomas said. "There was probably a majority of members who were kind of wishy-washy on this either way. That's where relationships win."
Data specialist John G. Perry contributed to this article.
HOW IT AFFECTS YOU
> Under early financing, the reactor fee on a $100 monthly bill will start at $1.30 in 2011, then rise gradually to about $9.10 by 2017.
> Under the traditional method, customers would pay nothing until 2016. Then they would see $5.85 jumps in 2016 and 2017, resulting in an additional $11.70 on a $100 bill.
By Margaret Newkirk, Aaron Gould Sheinin, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In a deepening recession, a Republican-dominated Legislature with a strong aversion to increasing taxes last week approved a bill allowing Georgia Power to charge customers early for nuclear reactors.
Georgia Power says the bill's success speaks to its merits. Critics -- ranging from consumer advocates to conservative bloggers -- point to the company's powerful lobbying effort: businesslike, efficient and devastatingly effective.
The company supplemented its year-round statehouse lobbying team with five of the biggest, most connected names in Georgia. It pulled in its law firm, registered its chief executive as a lobbyist and spent thousands buying lawmakers meals and sports tickets, burnishing its reputation as the most polished lobbying outfit around.
It was a textbook example of how to get one's way at the Capitol, said state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur), who opposed the bill. She meant it as a compliment.
"They're comfortable with all of us," she told fellow House members before Thursday's vote. "They extend themselves to all of us."
Less than an hour after Oliver spoke, SB 31 passed and was sent to Gov. Sonny Perdue for his signature -- among the first bills approved this legislative session. House members were in such a hurry that they broke with tradition and left hundreds of House bills waiting while they OK'd a Senate bill.
Georgia Power says the bill is a good deal for consumers and will hold down costs as it builds two new reactors at its Vogtle nuclear plant near Augusta.
"We think the bill passed because it provides millions of dollars in savings for customers, it phases in the [reactors'] costs and lowers the overall rate impact," spokeswoman Christy Heiser said. "The bill makes additional reactors an option for our future."
House Majority Leader Jerry Keen (R-St. Simons Island) scoffed at speculation that pressure from Georgia Power and its lobbyists propelled the bill forward.
"I've heard the media say there was pressure," he said. "I never heard it, saw it, felt it at all. I read the bill. It's sort of the unique thing I do, I read the facts of the bill, I listened to the arguments, sat down and looked at it."
To SB 31's critics, though, the bill's unusually swift passage is proof of what they say has been true for years: It's awfully tough to beat Georgia Power at the Capitol. The company's political reach is so deep that even the governor's chief of staff, Ed Holcombe, is a former Georgia Power lobbyist.
The company's political influence, consumer lobbyist Jim Kulstad said, "is insidious."
Big industries left out
SB 31 allows Georgia Power to charge customers an estimated $1.6 billion in financing charges and an additional $400 million in related taxes between 2011, when construction of two nuclear reactors begins, and 2017, when the reactors are done.
The utility's portion of the total estimated $14 billion cost will be $6.4 billion.
Georgia Power says the early charges protect its bond rating in addition to lowering the reactors' overall cost by about $300 million.
Opponents included AARP, radio consumer expert Clark Howard, consumer group Georgia Watch and conservative blogs such as Peach Pundit and Political Vine.
They said the bill allowed Georgia Power investors to earn a profit on the reactors before they're built and that legislators were doing an end run around the state Public Service Commission, the utility regulator that was due to vote on the same issue this month.
Georgia Power began lobbying for its plan last summer, months before it had been assigned a bill number.
It defanged powerful potential opponents -- Georgia's biggest industries, which objected to paying the early higher rate -- by largely exempting them from the bill.
Still, SB 31's opposition appeared to be gaining traction in the past two weeks.
Conservative bloggers, including Erick Erickson of Peach Pundit, were furious with GOP leaders for backing the bill.
Erickson, a Macon blogger who also runs the national Web site RedState.com, organized a campaign to derail the bill. Erickson said he favors nuclear power but that SB 31 would benefit Georgia Power and the state's biggest businesses at the expense of other consumers and businesses.
In an interview, Erickson said he thinks the company and legislative leaders moved the bill so quickly rather than allow criticism to build.
"Once we started opposing it and people started getting phone calls, people started rushing it down the pike," he said.
‘Relationships win'
SB 31 opponents credit Georgia Power's lobbying prowess with the bill's victory.
"This happens because lobbyists are allowed to give, literally, completely unlimited gifts to senators and representatives," said Rep. Rob Teilhet (D-Smyrna), who called SB 31 a "breathtakingly bad bill for Georgia consumers."
"Georgia Power has given hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts and liquor and baseball tickets to legislators, currying their favor."
In the three months before the Legislature convened, Georgia Power lobbyists spent more than $14,000 on lawmakers and other state officials, according to State Ethics Commission reports.
Of that, $8,000 went to meals, sports tickets and other gifts to 68 lawmakers who voted on SB 31. All but $700 went to lawmakers who later voted to approve the bill.
The spending included about $100 for two dinners with Sen. David Shafer (R-Duluth), chairman of the Senate Regulated Industries Committee, which first approved the bill; more than $300 for lunch for the entire Senate committee; $795 for dinners and sporting events for House Speaker Pro Tem Mark Burkhalter (R-Johns Creek); and about $100 for three meals with Sen. Don Balfour (R-Snellville), the primary sponsor of the bill.
Georgia Power hired some deeply connected lobbyists to help make its case, including former Senate Majority Leader Pete Robinson, former Senate Minority Leader Arthur "Skin" Edge and former Natural Resources Commissioner Joe Tanner.
Bill opponents such as Oliver and Rep. Brian Thomas (D-Lilburn) say it's a mistake to link the utility's success with lawmakers with campaign money or sports tickets. They say Georgia Power's lobbying operation has left the company with a deep reservoir of goodwill. Oliver said Georgia Power's lobbyists avoid the kind of back-slapping that often goes with the lobbying territory.
Instead of relying solely on the most powerful lawmakers, "My understanding is that they spoke with every single legislator," Thomas said. "I had two meetings with them on this."
"They are very thorough in their outreach, and they do a very good job of talking to you even when the session is out, whether they have issues or not.
"It absolutely helps them," Thomas said. "There was probably a majority of members who were kind of wishy-washy on this either way. That's where relationships win."
Data specialist John G. Perry contributed to this article.
HOW IT AFFECTS YOU
> Under early financing, the reactor fee on a $100 monthly bill will start at $1.30 in 2011, then rise gradually to about $9.10 by 2017.
> Under the traditional method, customers would pay nothing until 2016. Then they would see $5.85 jumps in 2016 and 2017, resulting in an additional $11.70 on a $100 bill.