Nevada AG Moved to Intervene in Support of Petition Calling for FERC to Halt Utilities’ Use of Ratepayer Funds for Political Purposes

APRIL 26, 2021

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford moved to intervene in support of a petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity calling for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to prevent utilities from using ratepayer funds to pay dues to industry associations “engaged in lobbying or other influence-related activities.” FERC’s existing accounting rules allow utilities to categorize payments to industry associations that “engage in and support controversial political activities” as “recoverable,” meaning the costs can be passed along to customers. The comments emphasized that FERC’s rules play “an integral role in the regulation of Nevada natural gas and electric utilities,” and currently place the burden on his office’s Bureau of Consumer Protection and consumer advocates in other states to argue against including payments to industry associations in the rates paid by utility customers. The comments argued that these “compelled subsidizations of political activities” run afoul of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. AFSCME, and that payments to industry associations should be recategorized such that “the utility has to justify inclusion of these costs rather than the other way around.”