California’s investor-owned utilities (IOUs) have spent decades using their deep pockets to influence state politics. These state-sanctioned monopolies have funneled millions into campaigns, securing special treatment from lawmakers and regulators while everyday Californians are stuck paying the highest electricity rates in the nation. This pay-to-play system is indefensible, and I’ve introduced AB 884 to stop the corrosive effect of IOU influence on our state government.
The facts are clear. Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), Southern California Edison (Edison), and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) have spent tens of millions of dollars on California elections—ensuring that when key policy and regulatory decisions are made in Sacramento, their interests come first.
Since 2000, the utility industry has poured over $200 million into campaign accounts for candidates across the state, including contributing $2.5 million to Gavin Newsom’s gubernatorial campaign. And they’ve been rewarded handsomely for their “generosity” in the form of rate hikes, bailouts, and legal protections that shield IOUs from consequences, even when their negligence leads to deadly wildfires.
Take PG&E, for example, whose utility equipment failures have been linked to over 30 wildfires since 2017. In the most egregious case, PG&E was forced to plead guilty to 84 counts of manslaughter after their poorly-maintained equipment sparked the 2018 Camp Fire—the deadliest wildfire in state history. Instead of being held accountable, they received a bailout courtesy of the California Legislature, ensuring that taxpayers and ratepayers—not PG&E—would foot the bill for the damage. This wasn’t a decision made in the public interest. This was a bought-and-paid-for deal to protect corporate profits.
Now, state authorities are investigating Edison transmission lines as the source of the devastating Eaton Fire in Los Angeles County. When blatant IOU malfeasance and negligence occurs, it always feels like legislators and regulators are two steps behind, reacting rather than preempting. In California’s broken political system, that’s not a bug, it’s a feature.
In 2022 alone, IOUs spent more than $6 million on political campaigns, ensuring that Sacramento politicians give “extra consideration” to their interests. If you think this money doesn’t influence policy, ask yourself this: Why have electricity rates skyrocketed nearly 70% since 2019, with rates nearly double the national average? Why do utility companies get guaranteed profits, set by regulators who take their marching orders from the same politicians they bankroll? Why do fire victims get pennies, while executives rake in multimillion-dollar salaries and stock awards?
This isn’t about fair representation or advocacy—it’s about a monopoly protecting itself at the expense of the people it serves. That’s why I introduced AB 884, which will ban all IOU political contributions to candidates for state office.
If a company operates as a state-sanctioned monopoly, it has no business meddling in our elections. PG&E, Edison, and SDG&E exist because the government allows them to exist. They are not private companies in a free market—they are government-protected monopolies with captive customers who have no choice but to pay whatever they demand.
Rather than spending ratepayer dollars on political influence peddling, IOUs should be using their funds to harden infrastructure and underground transmission lines. In my district, Edison’s Riverside Transmission Reliability Project (RTRP) is moving forward with miles of 230kV above-ground transmission lines, the exact same system that may have caused the Eaton Fire. I’ve joined with a bipartisan group of local, state, and federal officials in calling for the RTRP to be fully undergrounded, yet state regulators and Edison themselves have flat-out rejected any changes to the project—ironically, undergrounding is “cost-prohibitive” according to them. Maybe companies like Edison would have fewer cash flow issues if they weren’t spending millions to buy influence in Sacramento.
If California lawmakers truly care about transparency and accountability, they will support AB 884 and cut off the flow of IOU money into our elections. The People deserve leaders who work for them, not for the energy monopolies that light our homes on fire while charging us the highest rates in the nation. It’s time to end the corruption. It’s time to ban IOU political contributions. And it’s time for voters to demand politicians who won’t sell them out.
Bill Essayli represents the 63rd Assembly District in the California Legislature, which includes the whole cities of Norco, Menifee, Lake Elsinore, and Canyon Lake, as well as portions of the cities of Eastvale, Riverside, and Corona.