“ now we have this incredible corruption and a reversal of that because they are using their advantage to hang on to power and undermine democracy,” he said. Howard Crystal, an attorney for the environmental group Center for Biological Diversity, said that US utilities are allowed monopoly power “because they are supposed to expand the public interest. They are supposed to be closely regulated, but their profits and unchecked political spending makes them some of the most powerful entities in a state. “It’s unfortunate that our process allows for something like this to exist without accountability.”īig power companies operate as monopolies with captive customers in much of the south-east US. “I find this to be horrifying and undemocratic,” said Gianna Trocino Bonner, former chief legislative aide for Rodríguez, after reviewing some of the leaked documents.
And in 2020, Matrix even harnessed the power of the press for itself, when its employees acquired control of The Capitolist, a Tallahassee-based political news site which it used for favorable coverage, leaked records show. Matrix employees had a Jacksonville journalist spied on after he wrote critically about FPL. In each of those cases, Matrix was working against politicians or policies fighting to curb the climate crisis by encouraging renewable power. In Florida, Matrix’s work touched almost every level of politics, from influencing local mayoral and county commission elections to combating attempts to reshape the state constitution. Matrix affiliated groups have also worked to advance power companies’ interests in Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, and in front of the Environmental Protection Agency, public records show. Records obtained by Floodlight and the Orlando Sentinel show that Matrix consulted for FPL, as well as another Florida company, Gulf Power, and Alabama Power. The ongoing clash between Matrix’s founder Joe Perkins, 72, and former CEO Jeff Pitts, 51, is exposing the firm’s decades of extensive influence peddling on behalf of utility clients. The Matrix saga illustrates the political obstacles policymakers and experts face as they attempt to cut climate pollution from the power sector, one of the biggest greenhouse gas contributors in the US. Hundreds of pages of internal documents – which are only coming to light now because Matrix’s founders are locked in an epic feud – detail the firm’s secret work to help power companies like FPL protect their profits and fight the transition to cleaner forms of energy.
That candidate later admitted he was bribed to run. Matrix employees spent heavily on political advertisements for a candidate with the same last name as Rodríguez, who split the vote. Rodríguez was ousted from office in the next election. Within minutes, one of them forwarded the directive to the CEO of Matrix, LLC, a powerful but little-known political consulting firm that has operated behind the scenes in at least eight states. Map showing route taken by Matrix LLC to oust Jose Javier Rodriguez from office.