RICHMOND: The Associated Press. Recent Dominion Resources Inc. donations subsidized by customers include a $10,000 gift to a college that was solicited by a powerful state lawmaker who is also the school’s paid fundraiser, and a $40,000 donation to a tort reform group that pushed for business-friendly legislation with the help of a longtime Dominion lobbyist, the records showed.
Virginia residents have been billed tens of thousands of dollars to pay for donations the state’s most powerful electricity company has made to politically connected charities, according to company records obtained by.Adding the cost of certain charitable contributions though not lobbying expenses to electricity consumers’ monthly bills is legal under longstanding and little-noticed regulatory rulings.
The $40 billion energy conglomerate is the biggest corporate donor to state political campaigns and has some of the most well-connected lobbyists.Katharine Bond, director of public policy for Dominion, said the company is following well-established precedent by including some donations in the base rates, which make up the majority of customer’s bills.
