Way beyond lobbying or shadow advocacy, Entergy has been “astroturfing”

Early last week, The Lens reported that Entergy supporters at a public hearing on the company's request to build a power plant were actually paid actors.

On Thursday, The Lens further reported that the actors had been procured by PR firm The Hawthorn Group, which had hired Crowds on Demand, a company based in California. Crowds on Demand then hired the actors to attend public hearings for Entergy in October of 2017 and February of 2018.

Hiring actors to pretend they represent “grass roots” support is known as “astroturfing,” and The Hawthorn Group has been involved in other astroturfing attempts in the past, including a fabricated letter-writing campaign for the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity.

Source: Entergy Arkansas Facebook Page

But this scandal doesn't mean Entergy isn't busy doing regular lobbying, as well. This photo shows Entergy employees Brady Aldy (Vice President, Customer Service) and Allison Graves (Director of Federal Energy Policy) lobbying Senator Tom Cotton in 2016 on the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funding. This is what government involvement in business is all about: allowing the legal monopoly status of regional energy utilities like Entergy and then subsidizing those companies through programs that appear to be helping the poor.

Note that in-house lobbyist Benjamin Portis served closely with Senator Blanche Lincoln, whose committee assignments included the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. And in-house lobbyist Conrad Schatte served closely with Lamar Alexander, the chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development.