The company benefiting from today’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission decision to approve the construction of the first new nuclear plant in the U.S. in over three decades is an influential powerhouse in Washington.
Southern Company, a power company based in Atlanta, has spent $130 million lobbying the federal government since 1998, ranking 17th among all organizations, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Last year, the company spent nearly $13 million on lobbying, including in-house efforts and hiring 14 outside firms.
The company’s political action committee, its employees and their family members also donate generously to federal candidates’ campaigns. Of all organizations, it ranks 95th in such giving since 1989. Nearly 70 percent Southern’s more than $10 million in campaign contributions has gone to Republicans.
In the 2010 election cycle alone, Southern Co., which operates plants in Georgia and Alabama, aggregated $900,000 to candidates, ranked fourth among electric utilities, according to CRP.
In that cycle, and in the current election cycle, the company’s investment in the election of members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees the NRC, has trumped other committees. The panel members have raked in nearly $200,000 from the company in the past two cycles. By contrast, the Senate committee responsible for overseeing the NRC, the Committee on the Environment and Public Works, has not enjoyed much of a windfall at all.
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