Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
P. O. Box 3711
204 Broad Street
Martinsville, Virginia 24115
276-638-8801
Toll Free: 800-234-6575
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Sunday, October 4, 2009
By GINNY WRAY - Bulletin Staff Writer
House candidate Ed Creed has criticized his opponent for taking campaign contributions from Appalachian Power Co. while it is seeking to raise customers’ rates, but an APCo official said there is no ratepayer money in those contributions.
Appalachian contributions come from the AEP Committee for Responsible Government, an employee-funded and managed political action committee, according to Todd Burns, APCo corporate communications manager.
“There are no ratepayer dollars involved. It is 100 percent employee contributions,” he said. “There is no relationship between rates and our employee contributions.”
Appalachian rates are approved by the State Corporation Commission, not voted on by legislators. SCC judges are approved by legislators.
Employees voluntarily contribute to the APCo fund through payroll deductions, and a committee of employees decides who gets contributions and how much, Burns said. The committee includes employees in operations, customer service, safety, clerical and other areas, he said.
“As a result, our contribution dollars are very small,” Burns said, but “they have a bigger impact because they are representing people.”
Creed, a Republican living in Patrick County, has criticized his opponent, Del. Ward Armstrong, D-Collinsville, for taking the APCo contributions “while the utility is continually raising rates on consumers,” he said in a release, referring to APCo’s rate hike requests.
Creed has said he would not accept such donations. In an August release before he learned that the PAC was employee-funded and controlled, he said, “The money our campaign won’t accept from the power companies is money that APCo doesn’t have to take from consumers’ pockets.”
Last week, after learning the specifics of the APCo fund, Creed said he still opposes such contributions, whether they come from employees or a utility that is a monopoly, such as Appalachian, which operates in localities without competition.
Between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31, 2009, the APCo fund gave $40,300 to Virginia candidates, compared with Dominion’s contributions of $458,067, according to the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP), which tracks campaign finances. Dominion is the top donor among electric utilities in that period; the APCo fund ranks fourth behind Thomas F. Farrell II ($64,479) and the Association of Electric Cooperatives ($48,360).
Armstrong received $1,500 from the APCo fund between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31 of this year, compared with $5,000 from Dominion, according to VPAP.
Del. Danny Marshall, R-Danville, and Del. Don Merricks, R-Pittsylvania, each received $500 from the APCo fund and $1,000 from Dominion in that period, according to VPAP. Burns said he did not know why Armstrong received more than Marshall and Merricks.
Neither Creed nor F. Seward Anderson Jr., a Democrat from Danville running against Marshall, received funds from APCo or Dominion, VPAP reported.
Among the candidates for governor, Republican Bob McDonnell received $5,000 from the APCo fund and $21,000 from Dominion through Aug. 31, according to VPAP. Democrat Creigh Deeds received $1,000 from the APCo fund and $20,000 from Dominion, VPAP records show.
Creed said if he is elected, the first bill he would introduce would ban political contributions from monopoly utility companies to state legislators and statewide elected officials.
“Everyone deserves a voice. I just don’t think state legislators should be able to take money from them (monopoly utilities),” he said. He added that he thinks such donations can influence legislators but does not buy their votes.
“There is influence there if you are the minority leader,” he said, referring to Armstrong.
Armstrong strongly disagreed.
“The insinuation is that with a contribution, you can be bought,” he said. “I challenge anyone to show anywhere there is a vote of mine that would have done anything to assist Appalachian.”
He voted against deregulation of the electric industry, something that he said was “heavily supported by my opponent’s party,” and in favor of reregulation “to rein in the power companies. I have opposed each and every rate increase Appalachian has brought forward.”
Armstrong said he recently spent more than $8,000 to send out more than 10,000 mailers that include postcards that can be mailed in to oppose APCo’s pending rate increase requests.
“That single mailing cost me more than I received from Appalachian since VPAP started keeping records” in 1996, he said.
He added that if Creed “is going to start talking about reining in APCo and rate increases, it would be nice if he would show up” at SCC hearings on them. “I don’t recall seeing him at a rate hearing, and I’ve been to a bunch,” Armstrong said.
Merricks and Marshall both said campaign contributions do not buy access to a candidate, but they think Creed’s suggested ban on them from monopoly utilities may have merit.
Armstrong said such a law might be legal, but he said House Republicans have stymied efforts for significant campaign finance reform, so he deferred to them on the prospects for Creed’s idea.
Both Marshall and Merricks said they contribute their donations from Appalachian to the Grace Network in Martinsville and earmark them to help Henry County residents having trouble paying their Appalachian bills. In Marshall’s case, that is $3,750; in Merricks’, it is $1,250. Creed has said Armstrong should make a similar donation.
“It’s the perception more than anything,” Marshall said, though he added that Appalachian is different from other companies because the donations come from the employees.
With many APCo employees living in this area who may contribute to the employee PAC, “you sort of have to look at both sides,” Merricks added.
Neither Merricks nor Marshall returns or refuses Dominion contributions. They both said Dominion is reducing its rates to reflect lower coal prices.
“Dominion is doing a better job of managing its resources,” Marshall said.
Merricks added, “Unfortunately, it costs money to campaign.” |
| |
|
|
.jpg)
.jpg)
