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Feb. 18, 2015 -- Top representatives of the nuclear energy industry are gathered in Washington this week for the Platts’ Annual Nuclear Energy Conference. Scheduled to speak are industry heavyweights like Bill Pitesa, the chief nuclear officer at Duke Energy, and David Brown, the senior vice president for federal government affairs at Exelon.
- Since January 1, 2013, the top five U.S. nuclear power operating companies and the Nuclear Energy Institute have spent a combined $60.4 million on lobbying Congress and federal agencies.
The nuclear energy industry is facing a crisis of sorts. In 2012, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved construction on a new facility, the first plant to receive approval since 1979. The nuclear plants that are currently operational are getting older, and the industry is pushing to extend their lifetimes.
In recent years, the nuclear energy industry has pushed the federal government to support construction of new facilities and to develop smaller, cheaper reactors. To that end, the nuclear energy industry’s trade association and leading companies have spent millions lobbying Congress and the federal government.
Lobbying: MapLight analysis of lobbying spending by the top five U.S. companies operating nuclear power plants, Exelon Corp., Duke Energy Corp., Southern Co., Dominion Resources, Inc., and Entergy Corp., and the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), between January 1, 2013, and December 31, 2014.
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In 2014, the top five U.S. nuclear energy companies and the Nuclear Energy Institute spent $29.9 million on lobbying.
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In 2013, the top five U.S. nuclear energy companies and the Nuclear Energy Institute spent $30.6 million on lobbying.
Lobbying Methodology: MapLight analysis of federal lobbying disclosure filings from the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. Lobbying totals represent money paid by an organization to each lobbying firm for services on all issues. Organizations report total lobbying expenses as a lump sum, which includes both in-house lobbying expenses and amounts paid to (and reported by) lobbying firms that they employ. MapLight calculates a given organization's in-house lobbying expenses by subtracting the total income reported by the lobbying firms that it employs from the company's total reported expenses. In general, filers may round their spending and expenses to the nearest $10,000, and we treat the designation of "Less than $5,000" as a value of $0. MapLight updates its lobbying database daily to capture amendments. Full reports are due on the 20th day of January, April, July, and October.
About MapLight: MapLight is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that tracks money's influence on politics. If our work has been helpful to you, please consider supporting us.
