The Edison Electric Institute (EEI), the utility industry trade association, launched a comprehensive campaign to weaken the solar energy market according to documents from EEI’s 2012 Board Meeting. The documents detail the utility industry’s campaign plan and targets.
David Owens, an EEI executive vice president, framed the issue by asking the utility CEOs in attendance, “How do you grow earnings in this environment?” Owens outlined an “Action Plan” that detailed three areas the industry must target with “outreach activities”: regulators, lawmakers, and customers.
Since 2012, the policy debate between regulators and lawmakers on distributed generation rooftop solar and net metering has only continued to increase. EEI along with its member companies have launched outreach efforts and advocacy campaigns, increased funding to third-party organizations, and even hired a firm to help change their messaging and brand – all in an effort to achieve the industry’s policy priorities of limiting rooftop solar installations. This UtilitySecrets.org page exposes these efforts, many of which occur out of the public eye.
New Edison Electric Institute Lexicon Seeks to Mislead Customers on Demand Charges
The nation’s investor-owned electric utilities will attempt to deceive their customers into accepting new electric rate designs that would reduce people’s ability to…
NYT digs into utilities’ efforts to slow down rooftop solar
The New York Times reported on Sunday about how utilities around the country, and their trade group the Edison Electric Institute, have worked…
PR Firm behind American Gas Association front group also member and consultant for Edison Electric Institute
The nation’s largest electric utilities have been relying on a political consulting shop to portray their efforts to attack rooftop solar as having…
Florida Power & Light drafted sections of “Florida Distributed Solar Equipment Consumer Protection Act”
Florida Power & Light drafted language that ended up in a Florida legislator’s bill and would restrict the adoption of solar power in…
New DOE Chief of Staff, Brian McCormack, Played Critical Role in EEI’s Rooftop Solar Campaign
Brian McCormack, most recently of the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), will become Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s chief of staff, reports confirmed yesterday. Previously, McCormack…
Audio: Edison Electric Institute Director of External Affairs Enlists Third-Parties To Help Attack Rooftop Solar
A leaked audio recording offers a rare view into how the Edison Electric Institute, the trade association for investor-owned electric utilities, enlists third-party,…
The Edison Electric Institute’s Disinformation Handbook
In 2016, documents published by the Huffington Post first exposed what would soon become known as the Lexicon Project, a plan by the Edison Electric…
Documents Expose Campaign by Utilities and Edison Electric Institute to Raise False Fears about Solar “Customer Abuse”
In a three-month span starting in November 2014, a series of letters, reports and white papers all coalesced around a theme: customers were…
Edison Electric Institute Executive Committee Memo Lays Out Plan To Call Natural Gas “Low Carbon”, Greenwash Solar Attacks
The nation’s investor-owned electric utilities will try to lead their regulators and the public into believing that their natural gas investments are part…
Audio: Insider Reveals Deceptive Strategy Behind the 2016 Solar Ballot Amendment in Florida
Audio obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy and the Energy and Policy Institute in October 2016 and first reported by Miami…