Big U.S. Utilities Are Undermining Climate Goals, Study Says

(Bloomberg) -- Almost half of the largest investor-owned utilities in the U.S. are actively pushing back against climate policy, slowing government efforts to combat global warming, according to a report by climate research group InfluenceMap.

Eleven of the 25 biggest U.S. utilities are viewed by InfluenceMap as “obstructionist” to climate measures that are aligned to international commitments of the 2015 Paris Agreement, according to an analysis by the nonprofit. Their actions included lobbying against environmental efforts, supporting anti-climate policies and advocating for the long-term role of unabated natural gas and opposing government efforts to retire coal. Four major utilities broadly support robust climate measures.“The power sector in the United States holds immense power when it comes to the direction of climate policy, but it is also very divided over what that direction should be,” Emilia Piziak, an analyst with London-based InfluenceMap, said in a statement. “This research maps out the extensive policy engagement undertaken at all levels of government, showing that some of the most influential voices in this space are opposed to Paris-aligned climate policy.” 

The report comes at a critical moment in the U.S. climate debate. There are growing calls for increased production of oil and natural gas in the midst of an international energy crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, it’s unclear if the Biden administration will be able to pass legislation designed to boost production of clean energy as it targets a carbon-free power grid by 2035.

Atlanta-based Southern Co. and Houston-based CenterPoint Energy Inc. were identified as “laggards” and having the most aggressive anti-climate lobbying efforts, with both supporting state bills preventing cities from banning natural gas hookups.

Southern is reducing greenhouse gas emissions across its electric and natural gas business to net zero by 2050 in alignment with the Paris Agreement, spokesman Schuyler Baehman said in an emailed statement.

CenterPoint said it aims to reach net-zero for direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions by 2035 and reduce emissions from customer natural gas use 20% to 30% by that time, spokesman Geoffrey Castro said by email.

InfluenceMap’s analysis found a clear connection between the success of individual U.S. states passing climate policies and the engagement of their dominant utility on such issues. Many states — predominately located in the Midwest and Southeast — that have failed to adopt aggressive environmental measures have a big utility that lobbied against climate goals, the study found.

The Paris Agreement is an international treaty on climate change that aims to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) compared to pre-industrial levels.

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