California's $2.84+ Million Warren Buffett Lobbying Mystery
Californians are in the dark. CGNP then filed a Complaint with the California Attorney General
Can you see the over $2.84 million unaccounted-for PacifiCorp lobbying expenditures in the second quarter of 2024 which are shown above?
Attorney General Rob Bonta
Office of the Attorney General
California Department of Justice
1300 "I" Street, Sacramento, CA 95814-2919
(916) 445-9555
rob dot bonta [at] doj dot ca dot gov
Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D. - California Secretary of State
Political Reform Division - Cal-Access Lobbying Disclosures
1500 11th Street 4th Floor - Room 495
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 653-6224
prd [at] sos dot ca dot gov
Tuesday, April 29, 2025
RE: False information submitted under Penalty of Perjury in PacifiCorp's Form 635 dated July 18, 2024
Hello, Attorney General Rob Bonta and California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber:
Independent nonprofit California Intervenor Californians for Green Nuclear Power, Inc. (CGNP) respectfully submits this Complaint regarding the recurring misconduct of Berkshire Hathaway Energy subsidiary, PacifiCorp, an Oregon Corporation. CGNP believes PacifiCorp's misconduct rises to the level of felony perjury. After your respective offices have reviewed the information CGNP is providing, we request the appropriate legal sanctions to PacifiCorp be applied to encourage the firm to truthfully and completely file their Form 635 submissions in the future.
By way of background, PacifiCorp was identified on April 21, 2025 as the firm making the third largest lobbying expenditures in 2024. [1] PacifiCorp's general lobbying expenditures were $13,327,529.05 in 2024.
Here is a copy of page 1 of PacifiCorp's page 1 of their second quarter 2024 showing a line D Total other payments to influence of $6,201,377.77, with a grand total of $6,227,232.77.
CGNP downloaded PacifiCorp's complete second quarter 2024 Form 635 as a PDF and converted it into a set of Excel spreadsheets. We calculated the sum of the second quarter lobbying expenses shown on sheets 5 through 10, inclusive. We confirmed the total on each page matched the total shown on the page. (This is the meaning of the phrase, "Page totals match.") We then totaled those six pages as shown in the small spreadsheet below.
As shown above, there is an approximately $2.8 million difference between the claimed total and the sum that CGNP calculated. Note the modest $25,500.00 quarterly payment to PacifiCorp's lobbying firm California Advisors does not explain the discrepancy. Perhaps there were a few pages of lobbying expense tabulations not disclosed by PacifiCorp in their second quarter Form 635. In the interest of clarity, CGNP has not included the spreadsheets for the three other quarters in 2024. All three quarters had mismatches between the total CGNP calculated and the total claimed by PacifiCorp. CGNP notes the four quarters for 2023 match CGNP's calculated totals to the penny!
While it is also not disclosed on PacifiCorp's Form 635 disclosures, the firm's biggest business in California is selling at wholesale their mostly coal-fired power to California entities. Since November, 2014, PacifiCorp has sold almost a billion dollars of this power to California. [2] California SB 1368 (Perata, 2006) which sets a performance standard for long-term supply contracts with out-of-state generators which bars coal-fired power plants. With the cooperation of California decision makers, PacifiCorp created a loophole by creating a daily spot market not subject to the performance standard of SB 1368. PacifiCorp is pushing for passage of California SB 540 (Becker, 2025) [another attempt to obtain CAISO grid regionalization] for the firm's commercial advantage.
Since 2017, CGNP has raised concerns regarding PacifiCorp's corporate conduct in its filings before local, state, and federal regulatory and oversight bodies. CGNP raised a Complaint to Secretary of State Weber regarding PacifiCorp's misleading first quarter 2024 Form 635 filing. [3] CGNP believes the misleading first quarter 2024 filing allowed PacifiCorp to escape being mentioned as an aggressive lobbyist in a May, 2024 CalMatters investigative report, since the reporter only saw the misleading total of zero lobbying expenditures when they were conducting research under deadline for their article.
CGNP believes the purpose of the phrase "I certify under penalty of perjury" on the Form 635 filing that PacifiCorp completes is to encourage the provision of complete and accurate information for California decision-makers and the public.
In California, perjury is a felony with potential penalties including up to four years in state prison, fines, and felony probation. The exact sentence can vary depending on the circumstances, the defendant's prior criminal history, and other factors.
Elaboration:
California Penal Code § 118 PC
defines perjury as intentionally making a false statement under oath or penalty of perjury.
Felony Offense:
Perjury is a felony in California, meaning it carries more severe penalties than a misdemeanor.
Potential Penalties:
A conviction for perjury can result in:
Up to four years in state prison.
Fines of up to $10,000.
Felony probation, which may include community service, counseling, and other remedial activities.
CGNP stands ready to supply considerable background information. Please contact us with your questions and concerns.
/s/ Gene Nelson, Ph.D. CGNP Senior Legal Researcher and President
Californians for Green Nuclear Power, Inc. (CGNP)
[1] "Special interests poured more than half a billion into California lobbying last year," by Jeremiah Kimmelman, April 21, 2025, CalMatters. https://calmatters.org/data/2025/04/califomia-lobbying-spending-2024/
[2] https://www.westerneim.com/Pages/About/QuarterlyBenefits.aspx As of December 31, 2024, PacifiCorp sold $938.08 million of its power via the Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM)
[3] 'Filing Error' (cough) in PacifiCorp's Most Recent California Lobbying Disclosure PacifiCorp likely spent the greatest amount on California lobbying of any firm during 1Q 2024. PacifiCorp supplied a misleading amount of ZERO on the first page of their mandatory disclosure • MAY 10, 2024, GreenNUKE Substack.
https://greennuke.substack.com/p/14a36d6d-2b2d-4ddf-8d71-a5b6cca441be