Wordmark#ohreally maybe #investors #finance of #bigpower knew this since decades but could not be bothered https://ecfr.eu/article/a-brighter-future-why-upgrading-the-grid-is-vital-for-europes-competitiveness/ #electricity #eu maybe you should just blindly trust your CEO and politicians XD (not) #energy #fup #money #capitalism
Miguel Afonso Caetano"A 2024 analysis by climate watchdog Floodlight identified a “generational resurgence of fraud and corruption in the utility sector” costing electricity consumers at least $6.6 billion over the past five years.
Over that same time period, utilities’ shareholders have claimed losses of over $12 billion after alleging corruption or fraud, and electric companies have paid out half a billion in related settlements. Since 2019, seven power industry executives have been federally indicted or pleaded guilty to crimes
A standout example is the FirstEnergy nuclear bailout scandal. In 2020, Ohio’s House speaker and Public Utilities Commission chairman were indicted on federal racketeering charges after accepting $61 million in bribes from grid operator FirstEnergy in exchange for $1.3 billion in taxpayer-funded nuclear power subsidies.
The cause of all this graft? Deregulation. In 2005, Congress repealed the 1935 Public Utility Holding Company Act, which barred electric utilities from donating treasury funds to political campaigns. Since then, public utilities commissions, by approving rate hikes, have delivered roughly $4 million in additional annual profits to the industry.
Meanwhile, watchdogs describe a “revolving door” in which executives hop between utility commissions and the private-sector firms they regulate with few restrictions or oversight. One study of 473 public utility commissions found that 50 percent of commissioners went on to take a job within or adjacent to an industry they oversaw."
DorisVoss
