Power Companies Step Up Lobbying

As California’s electricity crisis exploded this year, so did lobbying by energy companies.

Pacific Gas & Electric Co., which has filed for bankruptcy protection, spent $622,000 lobbying lawmakers and Gov. Gray Davis’ administration during the first three months of the year, according to reports filed with the state Monday.

The reports show that seven energy companies spent more than $1 million on lobbying as they ramped up their response to the crisis. Houston-based power producer Reliant Energy, for example, spent nearly $100,000 on lobbying firms through March 31--almost four times the $25,523 it spent during all of last year.

The documents show that lobbyists for the firms were hard at work trying to influence a horde of energy-related measures, from legislation to set new rates for small power producers to a bill that put California in the electricity purchasing business.

PG&E; spokesman Ron Low said his company racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses in its unsuccessful effort to reach an agreement with the state on the purchase of its transmission lines. An unprecedented number of energy-related bills added to PG&E;’s need to hire lobbyists, Low said.

“During the first quarter this year, more than 350 bills were introduced in the Legislature that deal with the energy industry,” Low said. “Almost all those bills affected our customers and required staff analysis, testimony before legislative committees, and questions to be answered for legislators and their staff.”

Sempra Energy, the parent firm of San Diego Gas & Electric, spent $192,000 lobbying lawmakers in Sacramento and regulators at the Public Utilities Commission, roughly half of what it spent all of last year.

The utility also made campaign contributions to political parties and Sacramento politicians, giving $250 to Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, $750 each to Assembly members Keith Richman (R-Northridge) and George Runner Jr. (R-Lancaster) and $1,000 to Sen. Kevin Murray (D-Culver City), among others.

A lobbying report for the parent company of Southern California Edison was not available Monday evening. The reports were required to be filed both electronically and by mail, postmarked by midnight Monday.

Electricity merchants and generators also boosted their spending. El Paso Energy Corp., which owns one of the main natural gas pipelines into California, spent nearly $22,000. It reported lobbying Davis’ office and the California Energy Commission.

Lobbyists hired by the company, according to the report, also spent $607 on dinners held in January and February with five lawmakers and an Assembly staff member to discuss energy-related issues.

Assemblyman Roderick Wright, the Los Angeles Democrat who chairs the Assembly’s Utilities and Commerce Committee, dined with a lobbyist representing El Paso on Feb. 21 at the Esquire Grill, a Sacramento restaurant, according to the report. Assemblyman Joe Canciamilla (D-Pittsburg), who heads a subcommittee exploring natural gas issues, also ate at the Esquire on El Paso’s tab that night.

The Houston-based power firm Dynegy Inc. spent $32,261 on lobbying through March 31, compared to $24,000 during all of last year. Another Houston energy company, electricity marketer Enron Corp., spent $66,994.

Duke Energy is among the firms paying top dollar for Sacramento lobbyists as it seeks to build power plants in California to capitalize on the state’s energy shortage. The company reported spending more than $62,000 on lobbying through March 31--more than it spent all of last year.

“We would be remiss in not ensuring that our voice is heard in Sacramento,” said Duke Energy spokesman Tom Williams, adding that his firm’s proposed Moss Landing power plant would provide “30% of the new generation [of electricity] for the whole state of California in 2002.”

“They’re [lobbyists] not speaking for us, he added. “They’re helping us know exactly who to speak with to make sure we’re appropriately heard--and frankly, to ensure that we can get our power plants built.”

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Times staff writer Nancy Vogel contributed to this story.