As utilities turn to Sacramento for a last-minute bailout, some of their old allies in the environmental community are speaking up. Here’s a refresher course on some of those relationships — and a closer look at the newer groups joining them.
Lawmakers may have seen a new ad, paid for by Environmental Defense Fund and joined by NRDC, Net-Zero California, Climate Action Campaign and California Forward, setting out the environmental groups’ terms for the wildfire package now being negotiated in Sacramento. The ad calls for ratepayer protections and utility shareholder contributions while lending environmental support to the premise that lawmakers should move forward with a wildfire package — laying the groundwork for support of a deal that utilities are simultaneously lobbying to turn into another multibillion-dollar bailout.
The groups have not explicitly endorsed a utility bailout. But as utilities seek billions in new financial protections through the same legislative package, lawmakers should know the financial, institutional and historical relationships behind some of the organizations now weighing in.
One thread running through several of the groups is the Energy Foundation and its C4 counterpart, Energy Action Fund. The Energy Foundation became a major funder of environmental organizations involved in California energy policy during the state’s push toward deregulation in the 1990s. Today, Energy Foundation and Energy Action Fund remain major funders of NRDC, EDF and their advocacy arms, while Energy Foundation has also funded Climate Action Campaign. Net-Zero California senior adviser Dan Adler previously served as Energy Foundation’s Vice President for Policy.
Here’s what lawmakers should know:
- NRDC has a decades-long history of standing with California utilities when billions of ratepayer dollars are at stake. NRDC co-founder John Bryson went on to become chairman and CEO of Edison International, while longtime energy director Ralph Cavanagh helped pioneer the utility-environmentalist alliance behind deregulation, backed the utilities’ $28.5 billion stranded-cost bailout and fought the ballot measure to unwind it. Cavanagh also became a prominent environmental champion of Enron, publicly telling regulators “you can trust Enron” before the company became notorious for manipulating California’s deregulated electricity market.
- Edison has continued providing financial support to NRDC, while Energy Foundation and Energy Action Fund gave NRDC and its advocacy arm more than $4 million from 2022 through 2024.
- EDF has a long record of working directly with California utilities and participating in the regulatory proceedings governing their businesses.
- California Forward received $155,000 from PG&E and SoCalGas from 2023 through 2025, according to utility disclosures, while CA FWD itself identifies PG&E and Edison International among its corporate financial supporters.
- Net-Zero California is a project of Resources Legacy Fund with connections to the Energy Foundation through senior adviser Dan Adler, the Energy Foundation’s former Vice President for Policy and a former CPUC energy-policy staffer.
- Climate Action Campaign is the outlier — but shares a funder with other groups in the ad. Energy Foundation gave Climate Action Campaign $80,000 in 2022, while also providing millions to NRDC and EDF. Yet just months ago, Climate Action Campaign was attacking utility lobbying and describing wildfire liability protections as protecting utility balance sheets. Now it is joining those organizations in advertising a wildfire proposal that could give cover for a utility bailout.
As utilities ask Sacramento for another multibillion-dollar financial rescue, lawmakers deserve to know the history and financial relationships of the organizations being enlisted to help sell it.
NRDC & California’s Utilities
- NRDC’s relationship with California’s utility establishment goes back to its founding. John Bryson co-founded NRDC in 1970 and later became president of the California Public Utilities Commission and chairman and CEO of Edison International, parent company of Southern California Edison. Longtime NRDC energy director Ralph Cavanagh was later described in a historical account as a “disciple of Bryson.”
- The relationship also includes more recent financial support. Southern California Edison reported $3,524 in contributions to NRDC in its CPUC 77-M disclosures — $1,907 in 2023 and $1,617 in 2025. While small compared with the historical relationships detailed below, the contributions show that Edison has continued providing financial support to the organization its former chairman and CEO helped found.
- In 1989, Cavanagh created the California Collaborative Process, bringing environmental advocates together with executives from private utilities to negotiate energy policy. Through this process, Cavanagh appeared in advertising praising PG&E, produced videos for the utility, coauthored work with PG&E personnel, and participated in a PG&E research project.
NRDC Helped Sell Deregulation — and a $28.5 Billion California Utility Bailout
In the 1990s, California’s investor-owned utilities wanted deregulation of the electricity market. But there was a catch:they did not want shareholders stuck with billions of dollars invested in power plants and other assets that might no longer be competitive.
California’s Senate has since described the “essential bargain” of AB 1890 as opening the electricity market to competition while assuring investor-owned utilities could recover their stranded investments.
- PG&E, Southern California Edison and SDG&E sought recovery of approximately $28.5 billion in “stranded costs.” California’s deregulation framework allowed utilities to recover those costs from customers. The Legislature’s own analysis described a roughly $29 billion stranded-cost framework and explicitly said the legislation “protects the investments of shareholders” in California’s three investor-owned utilities.
- NRDC helped give deregulation and the utility bailout environmental credibility. In December 1994, Cavanagh and PG&E jointly filed comments with federal regulators arguing that stranded costs should be recovered through charges paid by utility customers.
- NRDC argued that accepting utility stranded-cost recovery was necessary to preserve energy-efficiency and renewable-energy programs. TURN lobbyist Lennie Goldberg recalled Cavanagh’s approach as: “you’ve got to cut your deals with utilities to get some things.”
- NRDC’s endorsement gave lawmakers political cover. In 1996, Cavanagh sent legislators a letter urging them to “Vote yes” on consumer-backed bonds financing utility stranded costs. When Assemblymember Kevin Shelley was later asked why he supported the policy, he pointed to its environmental protections — and faxed NRDC’s letter to the reporter as evidence that the deal was sound.
- When Consumer Watchdog founder Harvey Rosenfield and Ralph Nader backed Proposition 9 in 1998 to overturn the nuclear bailout, California’s largest utilities spent approximately $45 million defeating it. Cavanagh served as a leading spokesman against the initiative.
How the Energy Foundation Helped Shape California’s Deregulation Landscape
As California moved toward electricity deregulation, the Energy Foundation became a major source of funding for environmental organizations working on energy policy — including $3.1 million for NRDC between 1991 and 1997. NRDC also received $1.13 million from the Pew Foundation between 1993 and 1995.
Both foundations were established with corporate money made in oil and other industries. Together, they dominated funding for activist groups, helping ensure that their lobbying on energy issues took a “pro-business, pro-deregulation and pro-private-utility stance.”
According to Ralph Nader, “the network of funders has become a network of enforcers. And these guys are all on a first-name basis with these corporate [utility] executives.” The Energy Foundation also ran conferences where environmentalists and environmental groups could “hob nob” with utility executives and get on their wavelength.
A 1997 San Francisco Bay Guardian investigation also reported that the Energy Foundation withdrew funding from groups challenging full ratepayer recovery of utility stranded costs. That decision helped narrow the range of environmental opposition to the utility bailout and reinforced the emerging consensus that customers, rather than shareholders, should bear the cost of the utilities’ stranded investments.
That financial network continues today. From 2022 through 2024, Energy Foundation reported giving $3.68 million to NRDC and $2.38 million to Environmental Defense Fund, according to its federal tax filings. Its C4 counterpart, Energy Action Fund, reported another $352,050 to NRDC Action Fund and $590,000 to Environmental Defense Action Fund over the same period. Together, NRDC and EDF and their advocacy arms received more than $7 million from Energy Foundation and Energy Action Fund from 2022 through 2024.
The connection spans several organizations now appearing together in the wildfire proposal ad. Energy Foundation also gave Climate Action Campaign $80,000 in 2022, while Net-Zero California senior adviser Dan Adler previously served as Energy Foundation’s Vice President for Policy.
Then Came Enron
Less than five years after California enacted deregulation, the state was engulfed in one of the most infamous energy disasters in its history.
Wholesale electricity expenditures exploded from $7.4 billion in 1999 to $27.1 billion in 2000, according to the California Attorney General. Californians endured rolling blackouts, PG&E filed for bankruptcy, Edison approached insolvency, and the state was forced to step in and buy electricity. The Attorney General later estimated energy companies overcharged California ratepayers by approximately $9 billion, while estimates of the broader economic damage exceeded $40 billion.
Enron became the symbol of the disaster, with traders manipulating California’s electricity market through schemes with names including “Death Star,” “Fat Boy” and “Ricochet.”
And NRDC had its own history with Enron:
- Enron deliberately cultivated NRDC and other environmental organizations. An internal Enron memoboasted that the company had “excellent credentials” with environmental organizations including NRDC.
- Cavanagh publicly vouched for Enron and chairman Ken Lay’s environmental record, declaring: “On environmental stewardship, our experience is that you can trust Enron.”
- When Enron sought approval to purchase Portland General Electric (PGE) over substantial local opposition, Cavanagh’s assurances helped counter warnings about Enron’s intentions for the utilities. He helped negotiate an agreement involving $500,000 in Enron financial support for environmental organizations and publicly vouched for the company.
- Enron acquired PGE in 1997; less than five years later, Enron collapsed amid massive accounting fraud and revelations that its traders had manipulated Western electricity markets.
Meanwhile, the environmental benefits used to help justify California’s deregulation compromise did not prevent utilities from cutting efficiency spending. Between 1994 and 1998, PG&E cut its energy-efficiency budget by 38%, SDG&E by 58% and Edison by 23%.
NRDC helped give deregulation environmental credibility, helped utilities secure stranded-cost recovery from customers and fought an initiative to unwind the bailout. The deregulated system then collapsed into an electricity crisis that hammered California families — while Enron, a company NRDC’s top energy advocate had publicly vouched for, became notorious for exploiting the market.
EDF & California’s Utilities: A Corporate Partnership Model
- EDF explicitly makes corporate partnerships part of its environmental strategy, working directly with corporations and regulated industries to pursue environmental goals.
- EDF directly partnered with PG&E on California energy-efficiency financing. In 2016, EDF’s Investor Confidence Project teamed up with PG&E on a financing pilot for commercial and multifamily building retrofits. EDF praised PG&E as being “at the cutting edge” of transforming the energy-efficiency finance market.
- Southern California Edison became the first utility host sponsor of an EDF demand-response partnership program in 2012. EDF described the program as an opportunity to work “hand-in-hand with SCE” and other partners to accelerate the clean-energy transition.
- EDF is also one of Energy Foundation’s largest recent grantees according to tax filings. Energy Foundation reported grants to the Environmental Defense Fund totaling $2.38 million from 2022 through 2024. Energy Action Fund, the C4 counterpart to Energy Foundation, reported another $590,000 to Environmental Defense Action Fund over those three years. Combined, EDF and its advocacy arm received nearly $3 million from the two organizations from 2022 through 2024.
California Forward: $155,000 From California Utilities Since 2023
For another organization appearing in the ad, the financial relationship with California utilities is direct.
California Forward openly identifies PG&E and Edison International as financial supporters.
CA FWD describes itself as a nonprofit focused on economic prosperity and public policy in California. Its website thanks its “Corporate Stewards” and says its work is made possible through their financial support. Among those corporate supporters are PG&E and Edison International.
Consumer Watchdog’s review of utility 77-M disclosures also identified $155,000 in contributions to California Forward from PG&E and SoCalGas between 2023 and 2025:
- PG&E — $150,000 from 2023-2025
- SoCalGas — $5,000 in 2023
- Total — $155,000
Net-Zero California: A New Group With An Old Energy Foundation Connection
Net-Zero California is a newer Sacramento-based climate-policy organization, but its leadership connects back to the Energy Foundation network that has played a significant role in California energy policy.
Net-Zero describes itself as a team of policy analysts, researchers and political experts working on California climate policy. It was co-founded by Joe Caves and Sam Uden and lists Dan Adler as a senior adviser.
Unlike California Forward, Consumer Watchdog has not identified direct PG&E, Edison, SDG&E or SoCalGas funding to Net-Zero California. Its publicly identifiable financial and institutional relationships instead lead into California’s climate-philanthropy network.
From the Energy Foundation to Net-Zero California
Net-Zero senior adviser Dan Adler previously served as Vice President for Policy at the Energy Foundation.
Adler’s career also includes serving as a senior analyst at the California Public Utilities Commission, where he worked on California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard and climate policy, and later leading climate-finance work at the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank.
At Net-Zero, Adler focuses on finance, market design, regulatory reform, affordability and “utility business model innovation.”
That makes the Energy Foundation connection notable in the context of the new ad: an institution with a long history of funding environmental organizations involved in California energy and utility policy later employed one of the senior advisers now helping lead Net-Zero California.
Climate Action Campaign: A Longtime Utility Critic Joins the Wildfire Package Ad
Climate Action Campaign stands apart from several of the other organizations appearing in the ad.
The San Diego-based organization has spent years publicly criticizing investor-owned utilities, their profits, rates, lobbying and political influence. In February 2026, Climate Action Campaign issued a release headlined “Sempra, PG&E lobbying jumps in 2025, amidst California legislative action on utility affordability.” CAC criticized California’s investor-owned utilities for spending millions lobbying while customers faced high electricity bills.
CAC specifically criticized PG&E, Edison and Sempra for lobbying against legislation designed to restrict the use of customer money for utility political spending.
Even more notable given the current debate, CAC criticized the utilities over wildfire bailout legislation just months ago. Discussing SB 254, CAC described the Wildfire Fund as a “state-backed insurance program protecting utilities from wildfire liability.”
CAC characterized the legislative trade this way:
“Utilities accepted modest customer savings on transmission in exchange for greater protection of their own balance sheets.”Consumer Watchdog has not identified direct funding to Climate Action Campaign from PG&E, Edison, SDG&E or SoCalGas in the records reviewed for this primer. The organization has, however, received funding from the same climate-philanthropy network supporting other groups in the ad: Energy Foundation reported an $80,000 grant to Climate Action Campaign in 2022, as disclosed by the foundation’s 990s.
