Utilities Hire Republican Firm to Perform Dirty Tricks

With time running out for the Big Utilities to come up with new lies about Proposition 7 to trick people into voting against it (no pun intended in light of the upcoming holiday), they've continued to rely on the fabrication that Proposition 7 excludes small renewable energy producers. And I use the word 'fabrication' deliberately – neither the independent, non-partisan legislative analyst’s office nor the attorney general, nor in fact, any other attorney that reviewed Proposition 7, identified the ‘small producer issue’ other than the republican law firm hired by the Big Utilities to create it. It’s important to remember that the republican law firm was hired (at great expense) to find a way for the Big Utilities to defeat Proposition 7, no matter how tenuous their argument. Unable to find a real critique of Prop 7 they’ve created issues to confuse and scare voters. It’s not a new campaign tactic.

I thought it would be helpful to post a video of David Freeman explaining just how wrong the Big Utilities and the main stream environmentalist groups they fund are on Prop 7.




Also – just a quick note to say I’ve noticed two things in the last couple of weeks.

(1) Newspapers don’t read initiatives either, apparently. Their articles and reviews mimic the outright lies that the Big Utilities and their shill groups are spreading about Proposition 7. So much for investigative reporting or even the threshold act of fact-checking.
(2) Supporters of Prop 7 are doing a bang up job of calling journalists out for implicitly helping the Big Utilities with their disinformation campaign, and correcting them when they state the facts wrong. I was so excited to see some of these comments that I want to post a couple here, including one mention of the video I’ve included in this post:

“…please note that one of the biggest misconceptions that is still being marketed is that Prop 7 would rule out small businesses and other facilities from qualifying for the Renewable Portfolio Standard because there is a 30 megawatt clause. David Freeman, an authority on energy nationwide, and especially here in California as former head of SMUD and LA DWP, clears this up unequivocally in his testimony to the Joint Legislative Hearing on Prop 7, "Prop 7 changes ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about what size can qualify. The opponents fail to distinguish between "facilities" which count toward the RPS without any size limitations, and "plants" over 30 megawatts - for siting purposes only - will be approved by the Energy Commission....the 30 megawatt distinction applies to plants which do not need an Energy Commission permit in the first place."

I'd also like to share that Dr. Donald Aitken - physicist, solar architect, former Chief of Research at the Union of Concerned Scientists and co-creator of the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) is supporting Prop 7 as an uncompensated individual. Unlike, many of the groups opposing Prop 7. Take a look at PG&E's grant list and you will find both political parties along with many others. Prop 7 is looking out for the consumers and the small businesses, unlike our friends from SCE, PG&E and Sempra. Do not be fooled by the millions of dollars they have to spin the "facts" of this initiative and vote Yes on 7.

Great comment! This shows a real citizen-driven democracy! And this one:

Unfortunately, the authors of this editorial don't seem to have taken the time to read the text of Prop 7, or the Legislative Analyst's report on Prop 7. If they had, they would know that Prop 7 does not limit the eligibility of any project based on size. Prop 7 does not change the law on this issue in any way that matters. Moreover, even if it did (for the sake of argument), it would have no negative impact on the small renewable energy market in California. California approved a $3 billion program last year for small solar. And Congress just passed today an 8 year extension of the 30% investment tax credit for solar. These are huge boosts for small solar and are in no way impacted by Prop 7. Prop 7 is not perfect, but on balance it is quite good. It will take us far in achieving much higher levels of renewables, through large- medium- and small-scale renewable energy sources. We need all of these if we are to have a sustainable future.

Both can be found, with the complete article, here.