David Pomerantz

@davidpomerantz.bsky.social

Exposing efforts by utilities and fossil fuel interests to undermine clean energy with the Energy and Policy Institute. Personal account.

NC Public Staff filed testimony today revealing what regulators found when they sampled Duke Energy Carolinas' capital spending: $50k+ in Carhartt, YETI, Leatherman & Amazon gear booked as capital expenses ... meaning ratepayers cover it AND Duke earns a return on it. 🧵

Excerpt of testimony with "Examples included over $50,000 in apparel and gift items from Carhartt, North Face, YETI, Leatherman, Amazon, and other sources" highlighted

Yes! In my town, bike is safe locally (w/in 3 miles) but we're penned in by high-speed, unsafe-for-bike arteries. So we use the e-bike for school drop-offs and local trips, car beyond that. That's added up to 1K car miles avoided in 2 yrs, + far better quality of life. Nothing to sneeze at!

Jerome Alexander Horne@jahorne.bsky.social · 3mo ago

"Sure, not every person and not every trip. Maybe not even as a complete replacement for cars. But as a standard household tool? Absolutely!" Bikes (electric or non) can replace (dare I say it) transit trips. Especially in dense cities depending on where you're going. electrek.co/2026/05/18/w...

My colleagues and I have spent a decade tracking NextEra's sprawling political machine, and how it has used that machine to thwart competitors (including clean ones!), at ratepayers' expense. Essential reading for the NEE/D mega-monopoly merger plans. energyandpolicy.org/nextera-domi...

NextEra’s acquisition of Dominion would bring history of political control, rate increases to Virginia, Carolinas

NextEra contends customers will benefit from the acquisition. Lawmakers and advocates caution NextEra’s long track record of rate increases and scandals.

energyandpolicy.org

Tough election night for some SEARUC mainstays, but "Rubber-stamper of endless rate increases whose campaign contributions primarily came from the utilities they regulate" is a tough sell to voters right now, whether running for PSC or the House, I guess 🤷‍♂️

when a utility says …“we will freeze our rates for 2 years as soon as we get this next rate increase approved,” that is akin to a utility finishing a decadent lunch, and proudly declaring that it’s going on a diet until dinner. From @energyandpolicy.org utilitywatch.substack.com/p/beware-uti...

Beware utilities and candidates bearing “rate freeze” gifts

Rate freezes sound good, but they often come with booby traps, and without real reform

utilitywatch.substack.com

exelon (pepco's parent company) paid their ceo $15.6 million in 2025, a nearly $1 million dollar increase from 2024, despite not meeting their customer satisfaction performance threshold. read more about who is profiting off your utility bill in our latest report: energyandpolicy.org/utility-ceo-...

Utility CEO pay surges amid higher profits, customer struggles

Investor-owned utilities paid their CEOs $622 million in 2025, lowering the bar for bonuses while customers struggled to afford bills.

energyandpolicy.org

Really excellent analysis of the latest chapter in the political and regulatory fight to rein in Alabama Power, a key part of Southern Company’s wealth extraction model. Anger about rates is growing everywhere. How much will reform achieve and how much will it be co-opted?

David Pomerantz@davidpomerantz.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Wrote a post summing up what I think is the most interesting state in the US for utility accountability right now: Alabama. substack.com/home/post/p-...

I started [gulp] a substack. It’s called Utility Watch, and will feature @energyandpolicy.org's research, with opinions and analysis from me. My first post is on utility profits, and why the politicians increasingly going after them are smart to do so. utilitywatch.substack.com/p/welcome-to...

Welcome to Utility Watch: Let's Talk Utility Profits

Politicians of both parties are honing in on utility profits in their plans to lower voters’ electric bills. That's smart. It’s good policy and good politics.

utilitywatch.substack.com