Attorneys at the law firm that represents Georgia Power are pouring money into the re-election campaign of a state regulator responsible for being Georgians’ watchdog over the utility.
Lauren “Bubba” McDonald, who sits on the five-member Georgia Public Service Commission, is running to keep his seat in this fall’s elections. He is one of two PSC incumbents up for re-election this year, and the only one facing announced opponents.
McDonald has raised far more money than his rivals. Initially, his campaign was fueled by donations from natural gas firms, phone company leaders, solar energy businesses and construction-related firms, including many that are involved in gas pipelines and could be overseen by the PSC.
Now, the latest campaign disclosures show heavy giving by attorneys for Troutman Sanders, which represents Georgia Power before the PSC. People with ties to the firm gave McDonald more than $9,600, or about 6 percent of his total, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis of required disclosures.
McDonald’s campaign got $1,500 from Kevin Greene, who leads Georgia Power’s cases before the PSC on issues such as rates increases and cost recovery for the multi-billion-dollar nuclear expansion of Plant Vogtle.
Late last year, the PSC approved an $873 million Georgia Power rate hike, much of which was tied paying for compliance with tighter environmental rules. While the case included a slight drop in the company’s authorized profit margin, the margin is the highest allowed in more than 80 utility rate cases nationally in the last two years, according to SNL Energy.
Georgia Power is legally barred by law from giving to PSC campaigns, but its employees, leaders and law firm are not. A spokesman for the utility declined to comment on giving by Troutman lawyers.
Pete Robinson, the managing partner for Troutman’s Atlanta office, said he has been friends with McDonald since both were in the state House in the 1980s and that his support began long before their current jobs.
As for giving directly by the law firm, Robinson said, “We support people that we think do a good job and that we like.”
He said he’d be surprised if such donations affected elected officials’ votes. “I know Bubba well enough to know that he is an independent thinker.”
PSC commissioners influence electricity and natural gas bills, giant pipeline projects, a multi-billion-dollar nuclear plant expansion and rural phone company subsidies paid by anyone with a land-line phone. The jobs come with a six-year term and annual pay of $116,452.
A frequent question around election time is whether campaign giving and lobbyist spending grant big donors more influence than consumers have.
McDonald said contributions and such things as meals from lobbyists don’t sway his votes. He defended accepting legal donations.
“I’m within the law. Period,” he said.
His campaign has raised nearly $160,000, most of it from companies or people with ties to the PSC actions. Recent giving included about $15,000 from industry associations and manufacturers that use lots of electricity and are deeply affected by rates.
His rivals — Democrat Daniel Blackman, an environmental planning and policy consultant, and Aaron Gilmer, an auditor who is on the Libertarian ticket — received far less money and none that appears to be clearly tied to businesses directly involved in votes before the PSC.
“We are running a very grassroots campaign,” said Blackman, who has disclosed raising nearly $10,500 for his campaign. “I don’t think it is in the best interest of my campaign to receive contributions that would compromise the integrity of the position.”
“I’m not going to receive any funding from organizations that would be potentially regulated” by the PSC, he said.
Gilmer, whose only recently disclosed funding is from the Libertarian Party of Georgia, did not return calls seeking comment.
McDonald’s donations include $250 from the law firm of Bobby Baker, a fellow Republican and former PSC commissioner who has grappled before with McDonald. Baker represents an environmental group fighting the Vogtle expansion.
Troutman attorneys have long given to some PSC commissioners, Baker pointed out.
“I don’t think a contribution of $250 or $500 is going to buy anybody’s vote. I don’t see anybody being unduly swayed by something like that,” he said. “It depends on the individual at what point (the dollar amount) might be an influence.”
Liz Coyle of Georgia Watch, a consumer advocacy organization, sees PSC contributions in the context of a larger issue of money in politics. On that overall level, “to the extent that it creates a perception of an un-level playing field, absolutely I have a concern. But that is an across the board and general.”
