Los Angeles Times Covers “Record-breaking” Outside Spending Against Steyer, Spotlighting Utility Monopolies

“The message echoes a Steyer theme on the campaign trail — that candidates ought to be judged by who is supporting them and who is opposing them.”

Steyer “welcomes the fight” with utility monopolies since bringing down utility costs is a “top concern for voters”

CALIFORNIA — The corporate special interests keeping costs high for working Californians are investing in one candidate – Xavier Becerra – to protect their profits.

Today, the Los Angeles Times published two new reports outlining the historic level of outside money being spent to tear down Tom Steyer – the only candidate who will hold corporate interests accountable – and elect Becerra to protect their profits and champion their agenda.

Seema Mehta reports: 

• The “greatest amount of outside spending has been directed at attacking Steyer” (now totaling nearly $50 million), exposing the corporate agenda they’re hoping to cash in on under a Becerra administration.
• The major donors to the anti-Steyer efforts—including PG&E, the Chamber of Commerce, and the real estate lobby—have vested interests in “utility, business, property tax and building issues affected by lawmakers and regulators in the state capital.”
• While Becerra’s team attempts to distance itself from the dark money propping up his campaign, Mehta reports the link between the two has “long been viewed as performative and penetrable.” Thus, when Becerra calls Chevron money backing his election “an outright lie,” he is outright wrong.

It’s an expensive bet on Becerra, who they know will do their bidding in Sacramento, prioritizing their profits over California families. 

Los Angeles Times’ Dakota Smith dives deeper into the California utility monopolies spending record amounts to stop Steyer’s agenda that would hold them accountable. 

Smith reports that Steyer “welcomes the fight” against PG&E, SoCal Edison, and Sempra, who have collectively dumped over $13.5 million to prevent Steyer from breaking up their power. Steyer has promised to break up the utility monopolies power in order to bring down utility costs by 25% for California families. 

The piece also highlights:

• California electric rates as the nation’s second-highest in the nation, and the utilities’ role in contributing to the high cost of living – “one of the biggest concerns of voters.”
• Steyer is the “most aggressive” candidate who has taken on the utilities in ads, on debate stages and continues to hammer it home in closing messaging as he travels up and down the state.
• Steyer’s plan to take on the utility monopoly, which would include appointing reform-focused leaders to the regulatory agency, and invest in renewable sources of energy.

“Corporate interests are investing in Xavier Becerra because they expect something from him,” said Steyer for Governor Spokesperson Danni Wang. “Californians are sick and tired of being ripped off at the gas pump and on their utility bills. The corporate interests keeping prices high know that Xavier Becerra won’t change a thing – and Tom Steyer will.”

The Los Angeles Times reporting can be read here and here – and excerpts are below.

Record-setting outside money pouring into California governor’s race

Election laws bar independent expenditure committees from communicating or coordinating with campaigns, allowing candidates to emphasize that they have no control over the money that pours into these outside groups. The wall between the two has long been viewed as performative and penetrable.

The greatest amount of outside spending has been directed at attacking billionaire hedge fund founder turned environmental warrior Tom Steyer, a leading Democrat in the race.

Nearly $32.3 million had been donated to opposing his candidacy as of Monday, according to the California Target Book, a nonpartisan political almanac, which tracks independent expenditure committees. Among the major donors are utility giant PG&E, a political action committee sponsored by the California Chamber of Commerce and the California Assn. of Realtors’ independent expenditure committee, which combined have utility, business, property tax and building issues affected by lawmakers and regulators in the state capital.

Expenditure committees linked to Uber, the California Medical Assn., the kidney dialysis company DaVita and the California Dental Assn. …

Several of those donors then coalesced behind former Biden Cabinet member Xavier Becerra…

…More than $13 million has been contributed to outside groups backing the former U.S. Health and Human Services secretary.

The outside money has led to flashpoints in the race. Steyer points to corporations backing Becerra, such as a $500,000 Chevron donation to a group supporting him that was reported to state election officials on Thursday.

“The Becerra campaign was running out of gas until the latest half-million dollar influx from Chevron,” said Steyer spokesman Anthony York.

The message echoes a Steyer theme on the campaign trail — that candidates ought to be judged by who is supporting them and who is opposing them.

…, Becerra did receive a direct $39,200 contribution from the oil company to his campaign committee in June 2025.

…Steyer’s campaign, which used the Memorial Day weekend to attack Becerra with billboards highlighting high gas prices in Los Angeles and Fresno, said it was disingenuous for Becerra to feign ignorance of how the political system works.

“Chevron is charging Californians record gas prices on one hand and turning right around to spend $500,000 to elect Xavier Becerra with the other,” said Steyer spokesperson Danni Wang. “Now Becerra is playing semantic gymnastics trying to pretend voters are too stupid to understand how dark money in politics works. Californians aren’t buying it.”

LAT: PG&E goes after gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer. He welcomes the fight

The state’s biggest energy utility has made the unusual move to attack candidate Tom Steyer in the California governor’s race.

State campaign filings show that Pacific Gas & Electric has plowed at least $13.5 million into efforts to oppose Steyer. Other major utilities in the state have also donated to another committee backing the anti-Steyer effort.

Steyer, a billionaire and former hedge fund founder who became a high-profile environmental advocate, accuses the big three California utility companies — PG&E, San Diego Gas & Electric Co. and Southern California Edison — of “raking in” record profits at the expense of their customers. He blames the utilities for high consumer bills and causing deadly wildfires with their faulty utility equipment.

Though other candidates in the race are also criticizing the utilities, Steyer is the most aggressive.

“Big energy companies really piss me off,” Steyer said in one of his own campaign ads earlier this year.

In another attack, Steyer called PG&E less of an electric company and more of a “sophisticated Sacramento lobbying and influence operation that also happens to sell electricity. California needs a governor who will stand up to these monopolies, hold them accountable, and break them up.”

…

Steyer’s campaign last week embraced the spending from PG&E and others.

“When you’re opposed by the people responsible for devastating wildfires and outrageous rate hikes, you’re doing something right,” Steyer spokesperson Sepi Esfahlani said.

…

“There is one person that the corporations are going after, including Big Oil, who is spending millions of dollars to stop me,” Steyer responded during the April debate at Pomona College in Claremont.

“The electric monopolies, PG&E, millions of dollars to stop me, because I’m the person on this stage who’s the change agent,” he said. “I’m the person who’s going to drive down costs for the people of California by taking on the special interests.”

…California electric rates are the nation’s second highest after Hawaii, contributing to the state’s high cost of living — one of the biggest concerns of voters.

…The California Public Utilities Commission sets the rate of return that the companies can make. Steyer has argued that “perverse” structure allows utilities to disregard cheaper cost-effective solutions in favor of more expensive options, such as undergrounding power lines.

Despite Steyer’s talk of “breaking up” utilities, he doesn’t propose dismantling them. Instead, he vows to put reform-focused appointees on the regulatory agency and reduce utility rates. He also wants more battery storage for renewal energy, as well as additional rooftop and community solar.

…Matt Abularach-Macias, political director of Environmental Voters, said the utilities probably consider Steyer as a threat to their business. The companies plan infrastructure projects five or 10 years ahead and don’t want disruptions, he said.

…Leah Stokes, associate professor of political science at UC Santa Barbara, called PG&E’s outlay in the governor’s race part of a “corrupt system.”

“These are monopoly companies, you can’t choose to buy from anybody else,” Stokes said. “They take your money, turn it into profits because they are poorly regulated, and then undermine political candidates who would actually hold them accountable.”

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