Sacramento – The state’s largest energy utility has taken the unusual step of attacking candidate Tom Steyer in the race for California governor.
State campaign filings show Pacific Gas & Electric has invested at least $13.5 million in efforts to oppose Steyer. Other major utilities in the state have also donated to another committee supporting the anti-stayer effort.
Steyer, a billionaire and former hedge fund founder who became a high-profile environmental advocate, accused California’s three largest utility companies – PG&E, San Diego Gas & Electric Co. and Southern California Edison – of making record profits at the expense of their customers. He blames the utilities for high consumer bills and the deadly wildfires caused by their faulty utility equipment.
Although other candidates in the race are also criticizing utilities, Steyer is the most aggressive.
“Big energy companies really bother me,” Steyer said in a campaign ad earlier this year.
In another attackSteyer described PG&E as less an electric company and more a “sophisticated Sacramento lobbying and influence operation that also happens to sell electricity. California needs a governor who stands up to these monopolies, holds them accountable, and breaks them up.”
Lynsey Paulo, a PG&E spokeswoman, declined to answer questions about the utility’s spending, and referred The Times to the committee that ran the anti-Steyer ad.
“Tom Steyer has spent more than $200 million to buy the governor’s office,” the committee said in a statement.
Steyer, a Democrat who is banking on his vast fortune in the race, is trying to move beyond the June 2 primary to the November general election. Recent polls have placed him behind Republican Steve Hilton, a former Fox News commentator, and one-time Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.
Utility-funded ads against Steyer do not mention his positions on energy policies, instead focusing on his outright hedge fund investments in coal and profit-taking centers. In an advertisement he has been compared to President Trump.
A voiceover says, “When Steyer sells himself as a different kind of billionaire, tell him where to stick.”
Another ad from the anti-Steyer group California Is Not For Sale highlights its support for Becerra. California Assoc. of Realtors and the California Building Industry Association. Also supporting the group.
Steyer’s campaign last week included spending by PG&E and others.
Steyer spokesman Sepi Esfehlani said, “When the people responsible for devastating wildfires and extreme rate increases oppose you, you are doing something right.”
Steyer has used his criticism of California utilities and the oil industry as a shield against attacks he made when he ran his own hedge fund and made billions of dollars from fossil fuels, and has elevated himself as an advocate for working-class Californians.
When Democratic opponent Katie Porter attacked Steyer in a recent debate for using his money to support her gubernatorial campaign, Steyer pointed to the attacks on PG&E and others as evidence that he’ll take on Sacramento’s powerful special interests.
During an April debate at Pomona College in Claremont, Steyer responded, “There’s a guy who’s got corporations on his back, including Big Oil, who is spending millions of dollars to try to stop me.”
He said, “The electric monopoly, PG&E, spent millions of dollars to stop me, because I am the person on this platform who is an agent of change.” “I’m the guy who’s going to lower costs for the people of California by taking on special interests.”
PG&E CEO Patty Pope and Steyer praised each other in social media posts after appearing together at various conferences last year, the California Post reports.
“It was great to talk about the future of energy with Tom Steyer at the Galvanize Solutions Summit,” Pope wrote on LinkedIn in December. Steyer co-founded Galvanize, an asset management firm.
The political action committee of the California Chamber of Commerce collected at least $2 million each this year from PG&E, Sempra — parent company of SoCalGas and San Diego Gas & Electric — and Edison. In return the Chamber’s committee donated $9.75 million to the anti-Steyer committee.
Chamber of Commerce representative John Myers said committee leadership, not donors, make spending decisions.
California’s electricity rates are the second highest in the country after Hawaii, contributing to the state’s high cost of living – one of voters’ biggest concerns.
PG&E serves Northern and Central California, while Southern California Edison is available in Central, Coastal, and Southern California. San Diego Gas & Electric Services Southern California.
The California Public Utilities Commission sets the rates of return companies can make. Steyer has argued that the “distorted” structure allows utilities to ignore cheaper cost-effective solutions in favor of more expensive alternatives such as burying power lines underground.
Despite Steyer’s talk of “breaking up” utilities, he does not propose dismantling them. Instead, he has vowed to make reform-focused appointments to the regulatory agency and reduce utility rates. He also wants more battery storage for renewable energy, as well as additional rooftop and community solar power.
Three utilities recently opposed a bill that would have required wildfire protection spending by Southern California Edison, PG&E and San Diego Gas & Electric to be audited by an independent accounting firm.
Assemblywoman Tasha Boerner’s bill, an Encinitas Democrat, stalled earlier this month. The state regulatory agency will need to consider the audit’s findings before agreeing to raise customer rates to cover even greater wildfire prevention expenses.
An audit of three companies’ wildfire spending from 2019 to 2020 found that $2.5 billion was unaccounted for.
Matt Abularach-Macias, political director of Environmental Voters, said the utilities probably view Steyer as a threat to their business. Companies plan infrastructure projects five or 10 years in advance and don’t want disruption, he said.
Environmental voters have endorsed Steyer and former Orange County Representative Katie Porter. The group’s educational arm received a $500,000 donation from a Steyer-backed entity in 2013.
Leah Stokes, associate professor of political science at UC Santa Barbara, described PG&E’s outlay in the governor’s race as part of a “corrupt system.”
“These are monopolistic companies, you can’t choose to buy from someone else,” Stokes said. “They take your money, turn it into profits because they’re poorly regulated, and then undermine the political candidates who actually hold them accountable.”
Stokes has publicly supported Steyer.
A spokesperson for Southern California Edison said the company funds its political contributions with “shareholder dollars.”
He said, “No customer dollars, or any portion of the rates paid by Southern California Edison customers, are used to support political candidates.”
Times staff writer Melody Peterson contributed to this report.
