FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Huck Montgomery
October 20, 2016
Wall Street Investment Firm Drives Ayotte’s Position on Northern Pass
Blackstone Group, competitor to Northern Pass, contributes more than $44,000 to Ayotte’s Campaign
Barrington – Recent political contribution reports show that the Blackstone Group, a Wall Street financial firm that is funding a competitive energy project to Northern Pass, has given upwards of $44,000 to Ayotte’s re-election campaign. According to Open Secrets, the contributions from Blackstone’s executives and Blackstone’s political action committee make the Wall Street firm the largest energy sector contributor to Ayotte’s re-election campaign.
The Blackstone Group is described as the “lead investor” in Transmission Developers, Inc. (TDI), which has proposed several transmission projects in New England and New York. Similar to Northern Pass, TDI has proposed a transmission project in Vermont that seeks to bring hydroelectric power from Canada, but to date has not announced an energy source for the project.
“Senator Ayotte portrays herself as protecting New Hampshire by trying to creating hurdles for energy projects in our state, but in reality she is working to tip the scales to gain an advantage for one of her largest political contributors,” said Tiler Eaton of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. “Since she has begun advocating to place costly mandates on Northern Pass, Ayotte has raked in tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the Wall Street investment firm that stands to gain the most from her position.”
In addition to the Blackstone Group, Eaton said Ayotte has taken thousands in political contributions from other energy companies and power plant owners who have fought to stop any new energy supplies from entering the New England region. Eaton said these energy companies and power plant owners benefit from the extremely high prices in the New England energy market, and work to prevent new energy supplies from entering New England that might lower prices.
Eaton said the biggest losers from Ayotte’s effort to promote the Wall Street firm’s energy projects are New Hampshire businesses, homeowners and workers.
“At the end of the day, by letting her political contributors determine her position on energy projects, Senator Ayotte is standing in the way of lower cost electricity for New Hampshire and New England”, said Eaton. “By standing in the way of new energy supplies entering New Hampshire, Ayotte keeps electricity costs high and protects massive profits for her Wall Street political contributors. All at the expense of New Hampshire electric consumers, our state’s economy and good jobs in the state.”
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