ElectriCities

Butterfield, Electricities CEO mix it up

bniolet — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 08:45:54 -0400

U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield and the head of ElectriCities traded words over an proposal to curb carbon emissions through a cap-and-trade system.

Graham Edwards, CEO of ElectriCities, told the Elizabeth City Rotary Club that cap-and-trade would drive up energy costs dramatically, the (Elizabeth City) Daily Advance reports.

In a cap-and-trade system, carbon emissions would be limited, but companies could buy and trade allowances. ElectriCities supplies power for 32 cities and towns and Graham said the system could drive electricity costs up as much as 55 percent over 20 years.

Butterfield, a Wilson Democrat, was "disappointed" by those comments, and he wrote a letter to the newspaper.

"Studies by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office found that 40 percent of American households would see little or no cost increase, and that the remaining households would see a maximum increase of 50 cents per day even before discounting the savings achieved from improved energy efficiency," Butterfield said. "A study by the non-partisan Energy Information Administration resulted in similar findings."

Asked about Butterfield’s response, Edwards acknowledged Congress was planning offsets to benefit some portion of residential customers but he didn’t know the details. He explained his projections concerned only wholesale electric costs.

"We don’t look at the residential or the individual rates," Edwards said.

Rep. Saunders' work helps lobbyist Saunders

markjohnson — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:41:26 -0500

Former Rep. Drew Saunders gets to start lobbying six months after he leaves office instead of a year after stepping down, thanks to a change in the law that he pushed through.

Saunders lost in the May Democratic primary to Rep.-elect Nick Mackey. He resigned his Mecklenburg County seat on October 31 to take a $110,000-a-year job with Electricities, a non-profit umbrella group for municipal power companies. He said that job likely will include lobbying. The state ethics law requires that Saunders not lobby until six months after he leaves office, which would be May.

That's six months sooner than the original version of the ethics bill proposed in 2006. The cooling off period was shortened to six months thanks to a proposal pushed by, drumroll please, then-Rep. Drew Saunders. At the time, he complained that the ethics bill "treats legislators like dirt." This was around the same time that Saunders criticized the bill's ban on lobbyists giving gifts to legislators by saying: " Even the baby Jesus accepted gifts, and I don't think it corrupted him."

Saunders on Wednesday said he "certainly didn't anticipate" his new job when he proposed the shorter cooling off period. His criticism of the ethics bill arose from his human resources background, as he didn't think lawmakers should restrict how former legislators sustain themselves, he said.

"We were down there talking about jobs, jobs, jobs," Saunders said, "and then we're restricting people on how they make a living."

Bonds out

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 14:44:20 -0400

Jeanne Bonds is no longer working for ElectriCities.

The nonprofit, which advocates for municipal utilities, confirmed this afternoon that Bonds is no longer working as their legislative liaison, Andy Curliss reports.

Bonds was in the news last year for testifying before a grand jury investigating then Speaker of the House Jim Black.

She had hired Black's political director, Meredith Norris, to work for ElectriCities.

Norris was later found guilty of failing to register as a lobbyist while working for lottery vendor Scientific Games.

Bonds could not be reached for comment.