SmartGridCity and energy policy's secret critics

Phil Carson | Sep 08, 2010

 

I'd venture that most observers think it's unfair for Xcel Energy to retroactively shift $45 million in cost overruns from its responsibility—and that of its shareholders—to the backs of 1.4 million ratepayers who had no say on the utility's SmartGridCity project in Boulder, Colo. 

Xcel's request for approval of a certificate of public convenience and necessity, or CPCN, that would allow it to recoup that $45 million remains before the Colorado Public Utilities Commission for a decision.

But I'd also venture that most observers would like to know who is behind well-funded if surreptitious efforts to derail state and national energy policies that encourage modernization of the grid.

As I reported on the Xcel SmartGridCity story last week, I received an email from Amy Oliver Cooke, who asked me to confirm how many ratepayers would foot that $45 million bill if Xcel got its way. I asked for her affiliation and the reason for her interest. She said she directs the Colorado Transparency Project, funded by the Independence Institute, and was working with William Yeatman, who works for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, on an Xcel-related op-ed piece.

Therein begins a string of connections that I find fascinating and I think you will, too.

The Independence Institute proclaims itself a Libertarian think tank that descries corporate welfare, but it does not reveal its financial sources. The Colorado Transparency Project, sponsored by the Independence Institute, calls for transparency in state government spending under the acronym COST but, again, we don't know who funds it. (Cooke's personal website advertises her AM radio show and features a silhouette of a female with a martini in one hand and a smoking pistol in the other.)

The Competitive Enterprise Institute, on the other hand, receives significant funding—about a quarter million dollars each year—from Charles and David Koch, who own and run Koch Industries. Koch Industries is ranked the second-largest private company in the United States by Forbes; its annual revenue is estimated at $100 billion. The brothers' combined wealth of $35 billion is ranked third only to the fortunes of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. The University of Massachusetts' Political Economy Research Institute has identified Koch Industries as one of the top ten air polluters in the U.S., a result of their ownership of industries that produce or are dependent on fossil fuels.

A recent article written by investigative reporter Jane Mayer, published in The New Yorker, explained how the Koch brothers spend tens of millions of dollars each year funding groups such as the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which in turn calls for abolishing the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), among other agencies. The Institute argues against a national energy policy. The Koch brothers, whose father was a key figure in the John Birch Society a half-century ago, outspent Exxon Mobil in the latter half of this decade in funding ostensibly grass roots organizations that have attempted to undermine public understanding of the science behind global warming. Likewise, the ostensibly grass roots movement known as the Tea Party has received millions of dollars of support from the Koch brothers.

In and of themselves, these activities wouldn't bother me. We're all partisans for our own causes. Abolishing the DOE or EPA ("Get government out of the energy business!" sounds great) might satisfy someone's cravings for a simpler world, one in which, say, polluters aren't bothered by government agencies representing the public interest. But that scenario isn't likely to leave the air breathable or the water drinkable or prepare us as a nation to modernize the grid, master energy independence and remain internationally competitive. It is, however, good for business—the Koch brothers' business.

To return to my local example, Xcel has given nearly everyone reason to oppose cost overruns at the public's expense. But the short-term, corporate interests of two men are, through intermediaries, using that debacle to score points against national and state energy policies that could foster the modernization of our grid and build a sustainable future. 

The public's business calls for transparency in order to conduct fair and constructive debates over our shared future. In contrast, the Koch brothers secretly fund myriad efforts to skew those debates, disguising their intent. I find that worthy of everyone's interest, no matter what side of these debates you are on.

Phil Carson
Editor-in-chief
Intelligent Utility Daily
pcarson@energycentral.com
303-228-4757