How ALEC helped Duke Energy block stricter coal ash rules
Duke Energy is not only the nation's largest electric utility but one of its political powerhouses. Besides the millions of dollars the North Carolina-based company spends on federal and state campaign contributions and lobbying, another tool it has used to get its way in the public policy arena is the American Legislative Exchange Council.
ALEC is an influential group that brings together major corporations and mostly Republican state lawmakers to promote a business-friendly agenda. It is classified as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit but has drawn charges of illegal lobbying and misusing charity laws, since almost all of its funding comes from corporate interests.
ALEC has been involved in efforts to block stricter regulation of coal ash, which is in the spotlight again following Duke Energy's massive spill into the Dan River from a coal ash pit at one of its North Carolina plants. It has carried out this work with the financial backing of Duke, which belonged to ALEC during the height of the group's work to block federal coal ash oversight.
Since then, Duke Energy has been the target of a campaign by environmental, civil rights and democracy activists that called on the company to quit ALEC. Last year the British newspaper The Guardian obtained documents that suggested Duke Energy may have let its ALEC membership lapse in April 2013 amid the uproar over the group's involvement promoting Stand Your Ground laws like the one that came up in the trial of George Zimmerman after he shot and killed unarmed Florida teen Trayvon Martin. However, the company has refused to say definitely whether or not it is still a member.
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