Several big dollar donations have been made to the citizen’s group opposing Measure A-24, which has allowed the group to step up its campaign with flyers and door hangers like this one.
The fight in Morro Bay over the “world’s largest” battery energy storage system project is heading into the home stretch, but new players — with near unlimited resources — have stepped into the breach.
With none of the city council seats being contested this November, the single-issue ballot for local voters is Measure A-24, a citizen’s initiative that would lock in the current zoning on the northern part of The Embarcadero, including the old power plant property, which is where Vistra Energy hopes to build a 600-megawatt BESS.
A-24 would require the City to seek voter approval to change the zoning on properties from Beach Street north to Morro Rock, and to include the power plant and the City-owned properties on Atascadero Road (the old sewer plant and the City Corp yard).
While not mentioning the BESS Project by name, A-24’s intent is clearly to throw up a roadblock in front of the project, or at the least, put approval power into the hands of the voters.
The issue has prompted the birth of opposing citizen groups — Morro Bay Citizens Opposed to Measure A-24; and Citizens For Estero Bay Preservation — each arguing against or in favor of (respectively) Meas. A-24.
And while the fundraising for each side had looked like a normal campaign in Morro Bay, with dozens of modest donations mostly from locals, being accepted; on Sept. 23 that all changed in a dramatic way.
Morro Bay appears to have entered the Twilight Zone of big-money politics.
Big Donations
On Sept. 23, the Opposed Citizens’ Group filed a Form 497 with the City Clerk, revealing a $26,000 donation from something called the “Local Jobs & Economic Development Fund” based in Dover, Del.
Two days later, on Sept. 25 they filed a second Form 497 showing the Local Jobs & Economic Development Fund donated another $22,800 for a total of $48,800, and marking by far the two largest donations to an election campaign in town history.
Outside money continued to roll in as the opposition folks filed paperwork on Sept. 28 recording a $7,000 donation from “Green Light Action” out of Washington, D.C. and another $15,000 donation made Oct. 1 from Green Light Action.
They also got a $2,500 donation on Sept. 13 from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), one of the unions that see the BESS Project as providing jobs for its union members.
As a comparison, in a Form 460, which is a summary accounting of donations and expenditures, dated Sept. 21, the Opposed Group listed raising $10,321 from July 1-Sept. 21, and a little over $19,000 year-to-date.
That’s been bolstered by the five large donations bringing the No campaign’s money up to over $90,000, easily setting a record for fundraising in a local Morro Bay election by any candidate or on any initiative.
The Estero Bay Preservation folks, who actually drafted Measure A-24 and got it qualified for the ballot, show in their Form 460 (covering Jan. 1 to June 30), receiving a little over $8,500. All of those donations were made by individuals, a lot of them listed as “retired” and nearly all for a few hundred dollars, but none for more than $1,000.
The Opponents of A-24 had likewise sources of donations, with a few businesses also contributing. But none were for any extraordinary amounts until the big money from Delaware came in.
Is this Legal?
Estero Bay News asked the city clerk if the Local Jobs & Economic Development Fund’s donations were legal in local elections? Apparently they are because there are no limits.
“The City has not established local campaign limits,” City Clerk Dana Swanson said, “either for candidates or committees formed to support or oppose a ballot measure. Pursuant to Assembly Bill (AB) 571, effective Jan. 1, 2021, State campaign contribution limits apply by default to City and County candidates when the city or county has not enacted regulations addressing contribution limits.”
She added, “Contributions to ballot measure committees are not limited by State Law.”
Legal Limits
EBN checked with the State Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) and found the State limits for offices are: $5,500 for individuals, committees and political parties contributing to City-County candidates; and $5,500 for State Assembly and Senate candidates.
For statewide offices (Lt. Governor, Attorney General, Treasurer, etc.) the individual limit is $9,100; $18,200 for donations coming from small contributor committees; and there is no limit for donations from political parties.
The Governor’s office limits are: $38,400 for individuals and small donor committees; and again, no limits to how much political parties can contribute.
And there are indeed no limits on how much can be raised, donated or spent on ballot measures (the FPPC does not make a distinction between Statewide measures and local ones).
So, while John Q Public would be limited in the donations he can make, political parties and campaign committees not so much.
Who are You?
Finding out just who the Local Jobs & Economic Development Fund of Dover, Del., is, has proven to be somewhat elusive.
The Fund, “supports clean energy solutions in local jurisdictions with outsize climate, economic, and health consequences,” reads the Fund’s website. “It develops robust data models to visualize the distribution of clean and non-renewable energy sources across the United States. Additionally, it makes grants to organizations that support clean energy solutions at a local level.”
The president and board chair is listed as Eric Heitz, whose LinkedIn Page describes him as a longtime clean energy advocate and political operative. “I’ve spent my professional life advancing clean energy to mitigate climate pollution. I co-founded the Energy Foundation (www.ef.org) in January 1991 and enjoyed launching EF’s C4 lobbying arm, now called Energy Action Fund. Proud to have helped many foundations scale their climate/clean energy strategies.”
Heitz claims to have built the Energy Foundation’s war chest from $25 million a year to some $120 million with more than 100 employees. Among the partners listed are The Packard Foundation; MacArthur Foundation; Sea Change; Children’s Investment Fund Foundation; Sequoia and others.
One of the main donors in 2022, the latest information we could find on the Fund, showed the Tides Foundation as a multi-million-dollar supporter.
Tides Foundation is another of these so-called dark money sources that is directly tied to world financier, billionaire George Soros.
The Local Jobs & Economic Development Fund appears to be more of a middleman, taking in huge donations from political organizations, industry and the wealthy and then doling them out to candidates and causes on local ballots.
Who’s behind this?
Tracing where the money is actually coming from is difficult. Vistra’s Media Relations spokeswoman, Meranda Cohn, was asked if Vistra was the original source of these donations? She replied, “No. Vistra has not and will not financially contribute to the A-24 campaign efforts directly or indirectly.”
EBN contacted leaders of the No on A-24 group and met with Jim Cross, Marlys McPherson and Homer Alexander, to talk about these big donations.
They acknowledged the size of the donations and pointed out that while Measure A-24 is a local issue, it’s garnered the interest of environmental groups supporting renewable energy projects.
They also said one of the Economic Development Fund’s donations was of the “in-kind” variety and not cash. They said the Fund was already doing a major survey of the support of renewable energy projects, like the BESS, and agreed to include Morro Bay in the survey, which happened in July.
Sharing that information with the No folks, constituted an in-kind donation, Alexander explained, and triggered the reporting for the $22,800 donation.
McPherson and Gross stressed that before they accepted any money from these donors, they made sure they understood that the No on A-24 group would control how the money is spent, and they agreed.
McPherson said up until about a month ago, they had been using only local contributions (see related story). All three also wanted to clarify that their opposition group is only concerned with the ballot measure and their stance does not indicate whether or not they support the project itself.
The Project
Vistra Energy’s BESS Project was originally projected to cost $490 million but that figure has risen to some $900 million, according to an economic benefits analysis report the Texas energy company filed with the City, seeking to enumerate the tax benefits the City would get if the BESS Project is built.
That so-called “Brattle Report” (named for the firm that conducted it), was a prologue to Vistra sending an “offer sheet” to the City, spelling out the economic benefits the BESS Project would bring the City. That offer sheet has been withheld by the City because it is part of an ongoing negotiation.
It’s one more enigma in a political race that’s got plenty of them.
A State Problem
It may turn out that the State kills the BESS before the citizens can even get a chance.
That’s because the BESS is not a so-called “Coastal Dependent Use,” meaning it needs seawater for its operations as the old power plant did to cool steam.
The Coastal Act calls for special findings in such a case, including offering above-normal public benefits.
But just “How much?” remains to be seen, as the City Council and its BESS subcommittee continue to haggle with the company over these benefits.
The Kill Bill
And if Measure A-24 should pass, and Vistra be forced to seek voter approval, it still might not kill the project, which is surely what the supporters of A-24 really want.
That’s because the State passed AB 205, an exhaustive funding bill that also lays out a pathway for companies like Vistra to work around local jurisdictions, should they come up against insurmountable opposition to renewable energy generation and storage projects.
AB 205 would allow a company to appeal its project to the California Energy Commission (CEC) for a full permitting process. But while AB 205 cuts out the local folks, the BESS will have to go before the Coastal Commission, whose staff sent a letter to the City in August stating that the BESS isn’t likely to satisfy the Coastal Act.
That’s because in the more than a decade since an old oil tank farm was removed as part of the power plant’s decommissioning, protected dune scrub habitat has crept in to retake the site where Vistra plans to build its BESS.
There is also the Commission’s policy to move critical infrastructure away from the coast to avoid so-called “coastal hazards” — i.e. tsunami run-up zones, flooding, and sea level rise.
It’s this coastal hazards issue that forced the City to build its replacement sewer treatment plant inland some 3.5 miles from the Atascadero Road plant; and increased that project’s costs to ratepayers by about $100 million.
So, while voters will decide the fate of Measure A-24, moneyed politics has found its way for the first time into this sleepy little fishing village. Whether it’s enough to defeat Measure A-24, will be determined on Nov. 5 at the ballot box, as it should be.
