** Dominion Energy rewards Virginia political allies with bipartisan, off-year campaign contributions in 2020 ([link removed])
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By Kelly Roache on Nov 17, 2020 12:22 am
Dominion Energy has contributed $750,500 to Virginia General Assembly members and political committees so far this year, according tohttps://cfreports.elections.virginia.gov/Committee/Index/e6807da1-607e-e111-9bed-984be103f032campaign finance reports that its political action committee filed with the Virginia Department of Elections ([link removed]) through September.

The utility directed more than a third of those funds toward House and Senate appropriations committee members; those committees months later would kill a proposed measure to refund hundreds of millions of dollars in Dominion over-earnings to erase electric customers’ debts amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

State legislators were not up for election this year, save for one special House of Delegates race in which Dominion contributed to the victor. But Virginia’s lax campaign finance laws permit candidates to pilfer campaign funds for personal use ([link removed]) , rendering Dominion’s donations to friendly lawmakers virtually unrestricted.

Dominion is one of only a handful of businesses to have increased its political giving in Virginia compared to this time in 2018, the last “off-cycle” year in the state. A pair of graphs ([link removed]) from the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP) show contributions from most business-related PACs “down sharply” this year amid the COVID-19 pandemic and recession. “Economic uncertainty has led some PACs to delay setting a budget for the year and some legislators have postponed fundraisers,” VPAP wrote.

Dominion’s political contributions to members of the Virginia General Assembly grew steeply from $113,381 in 2018 to $615,500 in 2020, according to VPAP’s analysis. VPAP excluded Dominion from its graphs, as the magnitude of the company’s giving would have so compressed their scale.
*

Dominion’s political contributions grew five-fold from the third quarter of 2018 to that of 2020 – while most Virginia business PACs’ giving fell precipitously. Source: Virginia Public Access Project.


** General Assembly appropriators accept Dominion cash ahead of high-stakes legislative session
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Dominion funneled $265,000 to seventeen members of the state House and Senate appropriations committees, which quashed a proposal ([link removed]) from Gov. Ralph Northam that would have required the company to return $320 million in excess profits it has taken from consumers ([link removed]) since 2017 to forgivecustomer debts ([link removed]) during the COVID-19 crisis. As part of the state’s budget process, appropriators instead passed ([link removed]) a measure that would apply a lesser amount from Dominion – $125 million, the company estimated in a recent earnings call ([link removed]) – to forgive outstanding bills of
30 days or more as of the end of September. Unlike in the original proposal, Dominion could still pass those costs back onto its ratepayers in the future by reducing the amount of refunds they could receive ([link removed]) as a consequence of the utility’s rate case next year.

Legislators foreshadowed an intervention to address arrearages and disconnections as early as this spring. Fifty-eight delegates and senators sent a bipartisan letter to the State Corporation Commission ([link removed]) on June 5 requesting it extend its utility shutoff moratorium long enough for the General Assembly to act on the matter during its special session. Dominion made some of its largest contributions to appropriators in the intervening months.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Luke Torian (D-52) received a total of $55,000 from Dominion this year; the committee’s Vice-Chair, Mark Sickles (D-43), got $15,000. Senate appropriators Louise Lucas (D-18) and Mamie Locke (D-2) each received $50,000, while Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw (D-35) took in $25,000. Dominion is the top corporate or the top overall career donor ([link removed]) to each of these five legislators.

Amounts for all ten Democratic and seven Republican appropriators who have accepted Dominion cash in 2020 are provided below.


** Dominion Energy contributions to General Assembly appropriators, 2020
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Name District/Office Party Amount Received
Luke Torian (Committee Chairman) House District 52 D $55,000
Louise Lucas Senate District 18 D $50,000
Mamie Locke Senate District 2 D $50,000
Dick Saslaw* (Senate Majority Leader) Senate District 35 D $25,000
Mark Sickles (Committee Vice Chair) House District 43 D $15,000
Roslyn Tyler House District 75 D $15,000
Dave Marsden Senate District 37 D $10,000
Tommy Norment Senate District 3 R $10,000
Cliff Hayes House District 77 D $5,000
Emmett Hanger Senate District 24 R $5,000
Frank Ruff Senate District 15 R $5,000
George Barker Senate District 39 D $5,000
John Edwards Senate District 21 D $5,000
Nick Rush House District 7 R $5,000
Emily Brewer House District 64 R $2,500
Will Morefield House District 3 R $1,500
Matt Fariss House District 59 R $1,000
TOTAL $265,000

*Saslaw’s initial campaign finance disclosure ([link removed]) for the period did not include a June contribution from Dominion’s PAC. His committee subsequently filed an amended report.

Source: Virginia Department of Elections and Virginia Public Access Project data


** Loyal legislators, committees from both parties receive Dominion handouts
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Republican and Democratic state political committees were nearly equal recipients of Dominion’s largesse. Key Democratic committees received $90,000, while Republican ones garnered $80,000. The contributions follow a pattern of Dominion increasingly hedging its political bets as Virginia’s politics have shifted to lean more reliably toward Democrats, and after the company doubled down on pivotal Republican incumbents ([link removed]) in 2019, who lost most of those contests.

Recipients of Dominion contributions this year included the House and Senate caucuses of both parties; the Legislative Black Caucus; Gov. Ralph Northam’s The Way Ahead committee; and Del. Todd Gilbert’s (R-15) Republican Commonwealth Leadership PAC. Dominion is a top historical contributor to most of these entities.


** Dominion Energy contributions to key Virginia partisan committees, 2020
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Committee Name Party Amount Received (2020) Total Received from Dominion Notes/Affiliation
Commonwealth Victory Fund D $25,000 $500,400 General Assembly Democratic Caucus party committee
The Way Ahead D $25,000 $92,500 Gov. Ralph Northam-associated leadership committee
Virginia Legislative Black Caucus* D $15,000 $195,030
Virginia Senate Democratic Caucus D $15,000 $394,500
House Democratic Caucus D $10,000 $188,000
Republican Commonwealth Leadership PAC** R $30,000 $54,219 Del. Todd Gilbert-associated (R-15) leadership committee
House Republican Campaign Committee R $25,000 $417,000
Virginia Senate Republican Caucus R $25,000 $416,152

*Dominion’s PAC discloses ([link removed]) a July 2020 contribution to the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, which is not listed on the Black Caucus’ report ([link removed]) for the same period.

**The Republican Commonwealth Leadership PAC reports receiving two $15,000 contributions from Dominion’s corporate PAC in 2020 – one in January ([link removed]) and one in July ([link removed]) . Dominion’s PAC reports ([link removed]) making the first of these in December 2019.

Source: Virginia Department of Elections and Virginia Public Access Project data

Dominion also continued to contribute heavily to some of its most favored legislative allies, to each of whom it remains the top all-time donor.

Del. Lamont Bagby, chair of the Legislative Black Caucus (D-74), received $32,500. He co-patroned a Dominion bill after his nonprofit received five- and six-figure donations ([link removed]) from Dominion and Farrell, as the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported in 2018. This year’s contributions from Dominion exceed the career total ([link removed]) that Bagby’s candidate committee previously received from the company.

Sen. Lionell Spruill (D-5) took in $50,000 from Dominion this year. He patroned a 2020 bill supporting two gas-fired power plants in Virginia that originated with lobbyists for the plant developers, the Energy and Policy Institute first reported; ([link removed]) he later withdrew the bill.

Long-time patron of Dominion legislation Del. Terry Kilgore (R-1) got $15,000 from Dominion in 2020. He is one of the all-time highest career recipients of Dominion contributions, having received nearly $230,000.


** Dominion executives, lobbyists contribute to supporters of Farrell-backed Richmond project
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Dominion senior executives and lobbyists also contributed nearly $40,000 to Virginia elected officials, candidates, and political committees in 2020 – including company loyalists who faced electoral challengers. The utility’s management have made significant political contributions ([link removed]) in recent years, sometimes “bundling” multiple donations ([link removed]) to a candidate over a short period of time, a practice documented by the Richmond Times-Dispatch in 2017.

Much of this year’s total was funneled into mayoral and City Council elections in Richmond, the state capital. Dominion executives and lobbyists contributed almost $17,000 to incumbent Mayor Levar Stoney, an ally of company leaders, between March and election day. This included support from Dominion’s top brass; Executive Chair Tom Farrell made a $5,000 donation to Stoney’s campaign, and CEO Bob Blue made contributions totaling more than $2,000.

Stoney was an enthusiastic proponent of the failed $1.5 billion Navy Hill project ([link removed]) led by Farrell’s development group, which the developers claimed would have “rejuvenated” part of the city’s downtown and replaced the Richmond Coliseum. Criticized for threatening a historically Black community harmed by past infrastructure projects ([link removed]) , the plan was scrapped by a majority vote of the City Council earlier this year.

Stoney was re-elected ([link removed]) this month against multiple challengers, including Alexsis Rodgers, who campaigned ([link removed]) on re-centering community interests over those of Dominion, and Kim Gray, who opposed ([link removed]) the Navy Hill project while on the City Council. The contributions this cycle bring Stoney’s career-total contributions from Dominion and its senior employees to over $30,000. Dominion Energy Virginia President Edward Baine also contributed ([link removed]) to two City Council members – President Cynthia Newbille and Ellen Robertson – who
supported the Navy Hill project. Both defeated ([link removed]) challengers to hold their seats.


** Dominion Energy executive, lobbyist contributions to Levar Stoney, 2020
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Name Title Amount Contributed
Tom Farrell Executive Chair $5,000
Bob Blue President and CEO $2,066
Mark Bowles Lobbyist (Retained) $2,000
Bill Murray Senior Vice President - Corporate Affairs and Communications $1,000
Carlos Brown Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Chief Compliance Officer $1,000
Diane Leopold Executive Vice President and COO $1,000
Edward Baine President - Dominion Energy Virginia $1,000
Eva Teig Hardy* Lobbyist (Retained) $1,000
Katharine Bond Lobbyist - Vice President, Public Policy and State Affairs $1,000
Kaci Easley** *** Lobbyist - Legislative Affairs Advisor $704
Edward Mullen Lobbyist (Retained) $500
David Hallock Jr. Lobbyist (Retained) $350
Jim Chapman Executive Vice President, CFO, and Treasurer $250
TOTAL $16,870

*Eva Teig Hardy contributed an additional $2000 to Stoney later in the year (August), when not concurrently registered as a Dominion lobbyist.

**Includes $104 in-kind donation of food and beverage on August 18, 2020.

***Easley made an additional $250 contribution to One Richmond, the Stoney-affiliated Democratic leadership committee, in January 2020. At that time, she was registered as a retained lobbyist for Dominion. Easley registered as an employed lobbyist with the title of Legislative Affairs Advisor in July.

Source: Virginia Department of Elections and Virginia Public Access Project data

Senior Dominion executives also contributed to various state committees this year. Farrell and Blue gave a combined $6,000 to Northam’s The Way Ahead committee. Blue donated $2,500 to House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn’s (D-41) Energized for Change PAC. Lobbyist Eva Teig Hardy, who has worked for Democratic politicians and just chaired Democratic U.S. Senator Mark Warner’s re-election campaign, gave $2,500 to the Virginia Senate Republican Caucus. And Retired CEO and Chairman Tom Capps contributed $2,500 to former Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s Common Good VA PAC. McAuliffe, who supported ([link removed]) Dominion’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline project, is reportedly eyeing another run for Governor ([link removed]) next
year.

“Skyline Richmond Virginia” ([link removed]) by rvaphotodude ([link removed]) is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 ([link removed])

The post Dominion Energy rewards Virginia political allies with bipartisan, off-year campaign contributions in 2020 ([link removed]) appeared first on Energy and Policy Institute ([link removed]) .
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