Exelon: Utter Corruption With The Utilities and the Nukes?

And nuclear power is in the middle of it.

Rich Miller: Investigation slows ComEd/Exelon

Rich Miller Capitol Fax
51 min ago

The political muscle of ComEd/Exelon aced its last major test in 2016, when the energy companies finally passed what one Illinois House member referred to at the time as a "multibillion dollar corporate bailout" by electricity ratepayers to keep two of its nuclear power plants open.

The vote came after that year's election during the fall veto session, and it passed despite the fact that the Democratic-controlled General Assembly and Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner had not agreed on a state budget for nearly a year and a half. It was one of only a tiny handful of bipartisan bills signed into law during Rauner's term.

ComEd has had its shares of ups and downs in Springfield. It thrived under Gov. Jim Thompson, who strongly supported its push to build a large nuclear fleet. But most subsequent governors took a more populist position. And by the early 2000s, legislators felt ignored and even disrespected by the company.

That all eventually turned around as ComEd started catering to legislators in order to improve its Statehouse standing. The company stopped trying to ram through previously unseen legislation at the last possible minute in 2011, but had earlier made it much easier for members to do things like call in to check on constituent power outages, for instance. But, more importantly, jobs, contracts and other favors like keeping constituents' electricity service on when they couldn't afford to pay soon proliferated.

Like many large bureaucracies, once the corporate giant finally changed course it kept following that new route and continued expanding and "perfecting" its mission long after it should've moderated itself. It appears that it may have gotten sloppy, or much worse.

The company had been gearing up earlier this year to pass another major bill, which included locking in its favorable rate system for another decade. But then all the energy bills were suddenly set aside until the fall veto session.

That all eventually turned around as ComEd started catering to legislators in order to improve its Statehouse standing. The company stopped trying to ram through previously unseen legislation at the last possible minute in 2011, but had earlier made it much easier for members to do things like call in to check on constituent power outages, for instance. But, more importantly, jobs, contracts and other favors like keeping constituents' electricity service on when they couldn't afford to pay soon proliferated.

Like many large bureaucracies, once the corporate giant finally changed course it kept following that new route and continued expanding and "perfecting" its mission long after it should've moderated itself. It appears that it may have gotten sloppy, or much worse.

The company had been gearing up earlier this year to pass another major bill, which included locking in its favorable rate system for another decade. But then all the energy bills were suddenly set aside until the fall veto session.

The federal investigation of the company has since killed its bill for the immediately foreseeable future. The probe began in earnest in May with search warrants served on Statehouse insider and House Speaker Michael Madigan confidante Mike McClain (a former ComEd lobbyist who played an instrumental role in the company's many Springfield successes) and former Ald. Mike Zalewski over what the Chicago Tribune claimed at the time was a probe into how the former Chicago alderman with close political ties to Madigan received a ComEd contract.

ComEd and Exelon have since revealed that they've been subpoenaed twice by a federal grand jury, once over its "lobbying activities" and then for its "communications" with individuals including Sen. Martin Sandoval (D-Chicago). The search warrant of Sandoval's Statehouse office listed four unnamed Exelon officials.

The probe hasn't just toppled the company's legislative agenda. Fidel Marquez, the company's senior vice president of governmental and external affairs, and the CEO of Exelon Utilities Anne Pramaggiore, who had been ComEd's president and then CEO during its successful legislative run, have both suddenly retired.

The case could involve literally hundreds of favors over the years which combine to possibly form a pattern of corruption.

And then WBEZ reported that federal authorities are actually looking into whether ComEd hired "multiple politically connected employees and consultants in exchange for favorable government actions, including electricity rate increases." Many did "little or no work" and some had ties to Speaker Madigan, according to the story authored by Dan Mihalopoulos, Dave McKinney and Tony Arnold.

The story also reported that as of Oct. 18, Hooker is no longer working as a ComEd registered lobbyist through Mike Kasper, a major Statehouse lobbyist who also does a lot of legal work for Speaker Madigan.

But beyond whatever ComEd and Exelon may have done, what will be truly fascinating is if the feds ever publish a list of politicians who allegedly got sweet favors in return for their votes. That could be a long one.

...The utility who is overly dependent with obsolete nuclear plants. You know when women have reached the heights when they become deep in male style corruption.

Chief of Exelon’s Utility Business Retires During Federal Probe

Joe Ryan

BloombergOctober 16, 2019

(Bloomberg) -- The head of Exelon Corp.’s utility unit has abruptly retired amid a federal probe involving its lobbying in Illinois.

Anne Pramaggiore, senior executive vice president and chief executive officer of Exelon Utilities, is leaving “effective immediately,” the company said in a statement Tuesday. Calvin Butler Jr., chief of Exelon’s Baltimore Gas and Electric utility, was named as her interim replacement.

Pramaggiore’s departure comes less than a week after Exelon disclosed in a regulatory filing that it received a subpoena from federal prosecutors asking for information related to communications with Illinois State Senator Martin Sandoval. In July, Exelon disclosed it received a subpoena related to its lobbying activities in Illinois.

Exelon fell as much as 2.3% Wednesday.

Pramaggiore’s sudden exit following the subpoenas “cannot be interpreted in any other way as being directly related to each other,” Greg Gordon, an analyst at Evercore ISI, said in a research note. It increases the risk that the company could be under scrutiny for criminal behavior, he said.

“The situation looks unpalatable in the short term but a lot of risk looks priced in,” Gordon said.

The Chicago Tribune reported earlier this month that federal agents had raided Sandoval’s office and were searching for information related to concrete and construction businesses and lobbyists and public officials. Officials were also looking for “items related to any official action taken in exchange for a benefit,” the Tribune reported, citing documents released by the Illinois Senate.

Exelon’s statement on Pramaggiore’s retirement Tuesday didn’t reference the subpoenas. Nor did it give a reason for her departure.

“We thank Anne for her valuable service,” Exelon CEO Chris Crane said in the statement. “We are confident this will be a smooth transition.”

(Adds analyst comment in fifth paragraph.)

--With assistance from Will Wade.

To contact the reporter on this story: Joe Ryan in New York at jryan173@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Doan at ldoan6@bloomberg.net, Joe Ryan, Joe Carroll