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Power company money flows to news sites that attack their critics

• deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
• mikeyouse 4y ago
  This is an important subject - there is something deeply rotten in the utility world in the South. There are a bunch of stories you wouldn't think are connected, but all have major utilities in the background. From 'fake news' sites set up to smear candidates, to huge bribes paid via nonprofits, to sham candidates backed by the utility running in close elections, to capital plans that include hundreds of millions of dollars in case of snow in Miami.. I really hope the FBI is working on this; * Ex-Florida senator charged in fake candidate scheme (https://apnews.com/article/miami-senate-elections-florida-elections-e8b70ce3270bd170e37a71ca80b5aaae https://apnews.com/article/miami-senate-elections-florida-el...) * Florida’s dark money playbook: How ‘ghost’ candidate scheme revealed secretive political tactics (https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-ne-dark-money-ghost-candidates-tactics-20211230-7zelkoadffclde3z76ax3cgx3m-htmlstory.html https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-ne-dark-money-ghost-...) * Firm working for FPL took control of news site, let execs influence coverage, records show (https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/florida/os-ne-fpl-matrix-capitolist-eric-silagy-brian-burgess-20220725-p47y4wufavb4zi3qd4p3fau5ni-story.html https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/florida/os-ne-fpl-matrix-c...) * Nonprofit funded with FPL cash backed DeSantis’ 2018 campaign (https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2022/09/06/nonprofit-funded-with-fpl-cash-backed-desantis-2018-campaign/ https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2022/09/06/no...) * Joel Greenberg alleged far-reaching public corruption in Florida jailhouse interview (https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2022/09/07/joel-greenberg-alleged-far-reaching-public-corruption-in-florida-jailhouse-interview/ https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2022/09/07/jo...) * Leaked: US power companies secretly spending millions to protect profits and fight clean energy (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/27/leaked-us-leaked-power-companies-spending-profits-stop-clean-energy https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/27/leaked-u...) * Tom Fanning Southern Company Matrix Scandal: What don’t we know? (https://www.energyandpolicy.org/tom-fanning-southern-company-matrix-scandal-what-dont-we-know/ https://www.energyandpolicy.org/tom-fanning-southern-company...) * FPL’s extreme winter plan would create 'unnecessary' costs to consumers, critics say (https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/business/2022/06/28/florida-power-lights-extreme-winter-plan-unnecessary-critics-say/7686788001/ https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/business/2022/06/28/flor...)
  • woodruffw 4y ago
    Thanks for collecting these. It's interesting that these issues don't (appear) to plague larger utilities like the TVA[1], which seems to be actively exploring and developing renewable projects. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_Valley_Authority https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_Valley_Authority
    • mikeyouse 4y ago
      Yeah, I'm not sure what it is about the TVA -- feels almost like DARPA in a way. Something about the staffing and organization has led to a model utility. They're not without minor scandal occasionally but given the amount of political power they wield, maybe it's the distinction that TVA is government-owned and NextERA (who runs FPL) and Southern Company are both for-profit corporations?
      • micromacrofoot 4y ago
        You can also maybe extend that further to the people behind the decisions to make something private or public. If you're looking to commit crimes, you're probably going to have an easier time in the private sector.
        • SoftTalker 4y ago
          Ha. Well maybe technically. In the government sector, you may control what the definition of a crime is, or maybe you exempt yourself from the laws that apply to everyone else (looking at you, Congress).
      • gumby 4y ago
        TVA is a federal project, not a state regulatory body.
      • Spooky23 4y ago
        Apolitical civil service government organizations are good at sustained operations and incremental growth/change. They are bad at rapid change. The controls they have are reasonably effective at preventing the type of corruption that you see. The coal/rail/electric supply chain is a breeding ground for all sorts of shenanigans for all sorts of people. Plenty of drunken uncles have bullshit jobs in the utility and rail space. That culture permeates into new projects as well. In the Federal space, that kind of crap doesn't fly for long.
• chaostheory 4y ago
  It’s probably not just power companies. I would be surprised if Wall Street firms and other large industries didn’t also do this practice. https://www.openculture.com/2014/09/conspiracy-theory-rock.html https://www.openculture.com/2014/09/conspiracy-theory-rock.h... Media bias is a big problem.
  • SQueeeeeL 4y ago
    How could media bias be a problem in a free market like the USA? Obviously all consumers will simply stop consuming news media that gets sponsored by big evil corporations and only support those who advocate for free open truth. Wait, what do you mean every major news organization in the US is owned by billionaires or media conglomerates, dang, we didn't free market hard enough.
    • WalterBright 4y ago
      > How could media bias be a problem in a free market like the USA? Every media is biased. The free market solution is to allow anyone to be a media company, so the various viewpoints are available. > we didn't free market hard enough You being free to post your views here is evidence the free market is working.
    • klyrs 4y ago
      Adam Smith was pretty clear that monopolies were antithetical to what he called a free market. If consumers had a choice, they'd consume different news, under his theory. But the market is captured by a small handful of billionaires. The US is not a free market.
      • jjoonathan 4y ago
        Monopolies are to free markets like evil/incompetent dictators are to socialism: they might not be a core tenant of the philosophy, they may even be antithetical to the core tenants of the philosophy, but they sure seem to be encouraged by the practical mechanics of the philosophy.
      • 4y ago
• rhacker 4y ago
  _ money flows to news sites that attack their critics. Fill in the blank, tautology.
• germinalphrase 4y ago
  For those interested, the Energy and Policy Institute follows these kinds of moves, and their newsletter is informative. https://www.energyandpolicy.org/ https://www.energyandpolicy.org/
• dikaio 4y ago
  • nopenopenopeno 4y ago
    >We like to point the finger here in the US about how corrupt Russia, Ukraine or any other country is but we’re no Saints. Our finger-pointing is not due to coincidence; it's due to conflict. Specifically, the conflict is between the inherent interests of competing national ruling classes. >The executives of these companies should have their addresses listed as well as all the politicians on the take and let the people do with them what they will. The executives of these companies answer to the company owners (corporate boards) who collectively control the state by leverage of capital. Because we are a capitalist society, the owners of the capital have the power. Any apparent exceptions will always be withheld from accumulating meaningful influence, short of revolution by the working class. In other words, this is not a matter of faulty policy. It is a conflict of power. Let's discuss it as such.
  • colechristensen 4y ago
    Let’s not hint at having people attacked by angry mobs here.
    • nopenopenopeno 4y ago
      That and collective withholding of the labor power of the working class (strikes) are the only 2 ways any national ruling class has ever been meaningfully opposed. Take your pick and do everything you can to make it happen first.
      • colechristensen 4y ago
        That is a very shallow angry view of the modern world which leaves out so many methods the people have successfully used to exercise their power. Voting, for example. I, for one, will likely never be in a position where it makes sense to go on strike and you won’t find me with a pitchfork and torch at the home of the latest social target. There are other methods, and much more needed ones than strife and violence in the 21st century.
• brodouevencode 4y ago
  Here's another way of framing this headline: "A company that provides critical services has lobbyists - just like pharma, hospital networks, national defense, and food and agriculture."
  • coding123 4y ago
    Shorter even: Lobbyists Exist.
  • mitchellst 4y ago
    I think there's a bit more to it than that. It appears that a significant chunk of the local online news market in these regions is only financially viable based on pay-for-coverage arrangements with moneyed interests. So, I agree, lobbyists gonna lobby. And some of the lines in the article are pearl clutching. (GASP a utility company donated to a SuperPAC that opposed a ballot initiative? Yeah, that's normal. You might not like Citizens United, but that's just something they did, not something they're "accused" of.) But to the extent that you have a crop of local-interest news and politics websites that present as objective but, based on the quotes in the articles, wouldn't be able to exist without opaque financial arrangements that slant coverage... yeah, it's a genuine media story. Less about the power company, and more about journalism. (Which, indeed, Folkenflik is NPR's media reporter.) Alabama has high electric rates, an unusually profitable utility company, and this arrangement has proven durable. For me, that's a good enough "so what" for a New York based media reporter to condescend to the journalistic ethics of these Southern publications. It's not just academic; it's harming people.
  • tenpies 4y ago
    Also: a news agency receiving funding from a US administration that hates some industries, is here to tell you just how bad those industries are. May as well be in Canada.
  • pessimizer 4y ago
    Instead of volunteering PR and adding distractions, it might be better to say that power companies have "lobbyists" that bribe news sites in return for slandering critics of those companies. Even though it's strange to call people who bribe news outlets rather than politicians "lobbyists," because that sort of begs the question.
• adolph 4y ago
  NPR is going a great job with this. Another interesting report they have is at National Public Media (which receives corp sponsors for NPR, PBS, etc): How do brands establish trust? A ground-breaking new study from NPR and Neuro-Insight explores how a platform can transfer its trustworthiness to sponsors, what the subconscious can tell us about purchase intent and the effectiveness of NPR radio sponsorship vs. commercial TV news. https://www.nationalpublicmedia.com/insights/ https://www.nationalpublicmedia.com/insights/
• WalterBright 4y ago
  Every outfit tries to influence news sites.
• throwawayacc3 4y ago
  They also launder their corruption through "woke washing". A great example being a study by PG&E's utility-backed front that made the claim that increasing rates of solar panel installations on houses will raise costs that get shouldered by poor BIPOCs [0]. That means the state should pass net metering changes that greatly favor PG&E, and if you're against them, you're a racist. They got what they wanted. [0] https://calssa.org/blog/2021/6/5/debunking-the-cost-shift-debate https://calssa.org/blog/2021/6/5/debunking-the-cost-shift-de...
  • korroziya 4y ago
    Your link is from a trade association made up of Solar power interests. How is that any less biased?
    • joshspankit 4y ago
      You can’t look at bias vs non-bias (it would be nice, but capitalism makes it almost impossible to be unbiased). Instead you have to look at the power disparity between sides, and whether you trust the values of each group.
  • fleventynine 4y ago
    Regardless of the racism argument, it seems obvious to me that NEM 2.0 is forcing those who can't afford a solar system to purchase overpriced power from those who can. I wish we'd just charge/pay people the instantaneous market rate of power. And at noon on a sunny summer day in California, the market rate should be pretty close to zero. Nowadays, the grid needs more storage and peaking generation than it does more solar panels, so we should stop artificially incentivizing rooftop solar panels.
    • 10u152 4y ago
      Fun fact, you can do this in Australia and see/pay the instantaneous cost of energy. At noon it often goes negative. So you can get paid to consume! Edit - link to the dashboard https://aemo.com.au/energy-systems/electricity/national-electricity-market-nem/data-nem/data-dashboard-nem https://aemo.com.au/energy-systems/electricity/national-elec...
• mixdup 4y ago
  Somehow I knew this was going to be Alabama Power before I clicked the link This is just scratching the surface. To any normal person this sounds like a massive scandal on its own but this is just what they've allowed to get out. The corruption in state and local government in the states served by Southern Company's electric utilities would make Putin blush For example, Alabama Power's former CEO is on the board of directors of Regions Financial Corporation, based in Alabama, and a top 25 bank in the US
• shadowofneptune 4y ago
  Certainly gives another meaning to 'the power company.'