DiscoverEnergy Changemakers PodcastIs Utility Corruption Impeding Energy Innovation?
Is Utility Corruption Impeding Energy Innovation?

Is Utility Corruption Impeding Energy Innovation?

Update: 2025-10-01
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Description

Utility monopolies were meant to keep the lights on, but have they also opened the door to corruption that slows energy innovation?

Elisa talks with Dick Munson, veteran clean-energy advocate and author of Power Corrupts, about the scandals that rocked utilities like Commonwealth Edison and FirstEnergy, why the century-old monopoly structure invites abuse, and how bribery and dark money can stall the transition to cleaner, distributed power.

  • How billion-dollar bailouts in Illinois and Ohio exposed deep utility corruption

  • Why state-sanctioned monopolies create perverse incentives and resist prosumer tech

  • Practical reforms—from transparency to shareholder-funded lobbying—that could break the cycle

  • Why “clean government” is essential for a clean-energy future

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Is Utility Corruption Impeding Energy Innovation?

Is Utility Corruption Impeding Energy Innovation?

Energy Changemakers