Lobbyists treat PSC like royalty

Elected to the PSC in 2002.

Also worked at the Albany First Federal Savings and Loan. Started and ran Southern Appraisal, which specializes in appraising large commercial and industrial properties. Was on the Albany Zoning and Planning Board of Appeals, the Board of Tax Assessors and the Albany City Commission, including two years as mayor pro tem.

Lauren "Bubba" McDonald, Republican, Clarkesville

Served 20 years as a state representative before being appointed to fill a vacated post on the PSC in 1998. Was chair of the House Industry Committee for five years and the Appropriations Committee for eight years.

Elected to the PSC in 1998, held the seat until 2002. Was re-elected in 2008.

Also a partner in L.W. McDonald & Son Funeral Home. Was a commissioner in Jackson County and a volunteer firefighter.

Stan Wise, Republican, Marietta

Elected to PSC in 1995. In middle of fourth term. Was president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) in 2003 and 2004.

Owned and operated an insurance business in Cobb County, was a Cobb County commissioner and a board member of the 10-county Atlanta Regional Commission.

Three lobbyists

Brad Carver

A partner and senior managing director for governmental affairs at the law firm Hall Booth Smith.

Worked for Miller & Martin, Alston & Bird and the Georgia Municipal Association and Georgia Power.

Active in the Georgia and Fulton County Republican Parties. Legal counsel for Sonny Perdue’s 2002 campaign. Also campaigned for Lt. Governor Casey Cagle.

General counsel to the Buckhead Young Republicans.

Shawn Davis

Owns and operates Break Point Consulting, which focuses on media relations and regulatory policy in energy and telecommunications.

Was public information officer for the PSC. Managed the 2000 and 2006 re-election campaigns for Stan Wise. Helped with 2008 run-off campaign for Lauren “Bubba” McDonald.

Ran unsuccessfully for state Senate in 2004. Former compliance officer with the state ethics commission.

Terry Hobbs

Owner/operator of Hobbs & Associates, representing SCANA Energy, the Perimeter Community Improvement District and other lobbying clients.

Longtime executive with AT&T. Formed Hobbs & Associates in 1998.

Sources: Georgia Public Service Commission, Georgia Secretary of State’s Office, Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission, websites of Hall Booth Smith and Break Point Consulting

Almost every year about this time, utility lobbyists start stuffing the stockings of their favorite Georgia Public Service Commissioners.

A smoked ham from El Paso Corp., wine from Atlanta Gas Light, cookies from Gas South. But Christmastime treats are just the caboose on the PSC gravy train. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s analysis of lobbyist disclosure records for the past five years found that Commissioner Lauren “Bubba” McDonald has received more than $22,000 in meals, lodging, golf outings and other gifts — by far the most of the five commissioners — followed by Commissioners Stan Wise and Doug Everett. Commissioners Chuck Eaton and Tim Echols received comparatively little.

A single lobbyist, Terry Hobbs of SCANA Energy, accounts for about 40 percent of lobbyist spending on the PSC since 2009. On a three-day trip in March, Hobbs reported spending $2,163 on McDonald —$486 a night for lodging, $235 a day for meals. Hobbs also bought more than 100 dinners for McDonald, Everett and Wise over five years. Everett says his favored dinner spot is the Colonnade in Atlanta, whose famed fried chicken dinner, with two sides, costs $14. Sometimes Hobbs just took Everett. But he also paid the tab for Everett’s wife on 25 occasions since 2009.

The relationships among commissioners and lobbyists encompass more than dinner and drinks. One SCANA lobbyist has been serving as campaign treasurer for McDonald and Everett, who are seeking re-election next year. On a personal level, Everett asked a gas company lobbyist in 2012 to help arrange for his granddaughter to sing the national anthem at a Braves game. The lobbyist not only obliged but also bought Everett’s ticket to the game.

Everett and McDonald last week defended their relationship with Hobbs, saying he is a longtime friend. “I’ve known Terry since I was in the state House,” Everett said. “… Friendships, I think, don’t have to be disbanded simply because you are getting into politics.”

Hobbs told the AJC that it’s wrong to suggest that he can buy influence on the PSC.

“It is the height of cynicism in our political process – and a complete lack of confidence in our elected officials – to believe that their votes are influenced by dinners or efforts to persuade,” he said.

McDonald, who was in Germany last week at an energy symposium, asserted that spending time with Hobbs is not a conflict because the PSC does not regulate SCANA.

But the commissioners have voted repeatedly to award a contract to SCANA worth $21 million over the past 11 years. SCANA is the “regulated provider” of last resort, meaning it sells natural gas to low-income consumers and customers who are denied service by other marketers.

Commissioners vote on the contract every two years — the last vote was in 2012 — and the company has won out over competitors since the program began in 2002.

‘They are a very rubbery rubber stamp’

At least some of the lobbying largess will go away Jan. 1, when a new law nails a $75 cap onto individual gifts to public officials and eliminates most free ballgame tickets.

The focus on lobbyist spending in recent years has been mostly on the state Legislature. But few places in state government have a tighter relationship than utility lobbyists and the PSC, where five elected officials make million- and billion-dollar decisions for utilities and consumers.

Over the past five years, lobbyists have reported spending more than $53,000 on the panel, nearly all of it from utility lobbyists.

“That is just pathetic,” said Neill Herring, a longtime environmental lobbyist for groups that monitor the PSC. “They are a very rubbery rubber stamp for the utilities.”

Liz Coyle, deputy director of the consumer rights group Georgia Watch, said her outfit can get face time with commissioners without the meals and golf outings.

But she added, "I am sure the elected commissioners would say that dinners and things like that don't influence how they vote. But the perception is there, and I believe it is an un-level playing field. The average person does not have the access to a PSC member that a lobbyist would."

Gas lobbyist serves as campaign treasurer

No lobbyist spends more money on the PSC than Hobbs. In the past five years, for instance, he has reported spending more than $15,000 on lodging and meals for winter trips with McDonald, Wise and Everett. While Hobbs declined to discuss the trips, Everett said they went on quail hunts at the Riverview Plantation in the Camilla area, south of the commissioner’s home in Albany.

Hobbs isn’t the only SCANA lobbyist with a close connection to the PSC. Brad Carver, an attorney who represents the company before the PSC, has also served as campaign treasurer for McDonald and Everett. Carver is a partner in the same firm as both the current chairman of the state ethics commission, Kevin Abernethy, and a former one, Patrick Millsaps.

When asked by the AJC about his campaign role, Carver said, “I don’t see that being any different than folks making contributions. A lot of people here (at the PSC) have clients and make contributions.”

Nonetheless, in the same interview Carver said he is resigning as campaign treasurer for the two candidates at the end of the year.

None of these relationships is a big surprise to anyone who spends any time at the PSC.

“If people know you are more than willing to accept the offer of a meal or travel, it’s there for you,” said Bobby Baker, a lawyer who was seen as a utility company watchdog while serving on the commission from 1993 through 2010. “They are building a positive relationship so when the time came and something critical came up, that door was always open, that phone call was always taken, that voice was always heard.”

Shawn Davis, a lobbyist representing Atlanta Gas Light and campaign manager for Wise before he began representing utilities, said it’s natural that regulators work closely with companies.

“Lobbyist expenditures are a gesture of appreciation,” he said. “You’re not going to win the day on a bottle of wine. If you could, our citizens would have some very shallow representation.”

Hobbs argued much the same thing.

“Every attempt to convince or persuade is countered by an opposing interest and an opposing argument — leaving the regulator to make an independent decision based on information gleaned from both sides,” he said.

The PSC and your utility bills

Commissioners serve six-year terms and are paid $116,452 a year. Among other duties, the PSC sets rates for electric, natural gas and land-line phone service. PSC members say they’ve kept utility rates low by balancing the needs of regulated businesses — the utilities — and consumers.

The PSC is important because it determines how much you pay the electric and the natural gas company and, if you have a land-line phone, the phone company.

It decides whether Georgia Power may build a nuclear, coal or natural gas plant or add more solar output to the electricity grid. It signs off on expanding Atlanta Gas Light pipelines to move natural gas across the state and approves maintenance on older ones, all of which customers pay for.

The regulators play a significant role in Georgia’s economic development because of the policies they set for electric and gas companies. The state is known for having relatively low electric rates and easy access to natural gas pipelines, giving it a leg up in recruiting large businesses and corporations.

Politics has long played a role in the PSC. The panel deals with some of the most powerful businesses in the state, such as Georgia Power, AT&T, Atlanta Gas Light, SCANA, and a host of politically connected rural telephone companies.

Georgia Power, which heavily lobbies the General Assembly, does not report significant spending on PSC members.

Wine, to start the year off right

McDonald has received more than $22,000 in lobbyist gifts over the past five years, with almost half coming from Hobbs. The SCANA lobbyist has paid for more than 50 of McDonald's meals during that time, as well as taken him on winter trips and golfing. When McDonald, known for bursting into "God Bless America" on the campaign trail when he ran for governor in 1990, was slated to sing the national anthem at a Braves game in 2011, a Gas South lobbyist reported paying for his ticket.

‘I feel like I’ve done my job fairly’

Because lobbyists have to report what they spend, Wise said the public can see what's going on.

Everett defended lobbyists’ access to the PSC.