NextEra Energy Inc., the company looking to buy Hawaiian Electric Industries, has given thousands of dollars in political donations to the state’s top officials.
The Florida-based company gave campaign contributions to eventual Gov. David Ige and then-Gov. Neil Abercrombie in the 2014 gubernatorial election. The energy company contributed $9,000 to Abercrombie, according to data from the Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission. NextEra Energy PAC and NextEra Energy Infrastructure contributed $6,000 and $3,000, respectively, to Hawaii’s then-governor in July 2014.
NextEra Energy Transmission contributed $1,000 to Ige’s campaign in September.
In the 2014 election cycle, NextEra Energy contributed $10,000 to U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The data also show HEI contributed more than $20,000 to his campaign.
Reports filed with the Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission show HEI’s political action committee, HEI CEG, donated more than $20,000 in the 2012-2014 election cycle to state and local candidates, with $5,775 going to Ige.
The donations to Hawaii lawmakers are meager compared with the amount of money NextEra has contributed in other states. In Florida, where NextEra’s utility subsidiary Florida Power & Light is based, the company spent more than $7.5 million in the 2014 general election, according to data from Florida’s Division of Elections.
Florida Power & Light contributed approximately $1.1 million to Let’s Get to Work, Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s political action committee.
The Office of Public Counsel, the state organization that represents the people of Florida in utility-related matters, said NextEra is known for contributing significant amounts to local politicians.
“They are known in Florida for making quite a bit of political contributions to all the elected officials in Florida,” Public Counsel J.R. Kelly said. “They are a major player in the political arena — local and state and federal, too.”
NextEra’s recent campaign contributions in Hawaii are just a glimpse of what is to come, Kelly said.
“If they are successful at merging or acquiring Hawaiian Electric, they will become a major player in the political arena based upon their operations here in Florida,” Kelly said. “I have no doubt. They are a well-run company. Their operations are very good. They are very aggressive in pursuing things that they want.”
Kelly said the council is appealing recent approval by Florida’s Public Service Commission to invest ratepayers’ money in fracking, the procedure of creating fractures in rocks and rock formations by injecting fluid into cracks to force them further open.
According to Kelly, NextEra can invest up to $500 million in fracking operations without prior approval of the commission, and the company can charge that straight back to the ratepayers.
“We argued vigorously against that and the PSC approved it. We were flabbergasted,” Kelly said. “We appealed it, and it is before our Supreme Court now.”
NextEra funded Hawaii lawmakers before it announced its interest in purchasing HEI for $4.3 billion in December.
In 2013, NextEra Energy Transmission gave $500 to state Sen. Rosalyn Baker (D, South and West Maui), chairwoman of the Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee. NextEra Energy Infrastructure contributed $3,000 to Abercrombie in 2012.
NextEra’s campaign contributions and history in Florida were a concern for some Hawaii lawmakers last session. The state House passed a nonbinding resolution, one of the first indications of some state lawmakers’ opinion of the company, accusing NextEra Energy of not acting in good faith as it seeks to buy HEI. The resolution, HCR 227, was adopted by the House on April 9. The resolution was transferred to the Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee, where it stopped before the session ended.
In the resolution, the lawmakers restricted NextEra from contributing to politicians campaigns as well as faulted NextEra for wanting to limit the number of local stakeholders looking to be a part of the PUC’s review of the proposed sale.