State law prohibits a commissioner of public service from “knowingly accepting any gift, pass, money, contribution to a crusade or any emolument or other pecuniary advantage of any kind, or in, any user interested as owner, agent or representative, or from any user acting in any capacity for the owner, agent or representative of a non-unusual carrier or contracted through a motor vehicle company, telephone, fuel or electric, or any other public application that will be under the jurisdiction or supervision of the Public Service Commission. “
The Democratic gubernatorial candidate appears to have accepted crusading contributions from several green energy corporations he regulates as a public service commissioner.
MISSISSIPPI GOVERNOR’S TORNADO DAMAGE TOUR CRASHES FOR DEMOCRATIC OPPONENT: ‘IT SHOULD BE BETTER THAN THIS’
Democratic Public Services Commissioner Brandon Presley, who is running for governor of Mississippi, has taken cash from the public he regulates, which appears to violate state law. (Commissioner Brandon Presley Facebook)
The Mississippi Public Utilities Commission has a broad definition of “utility” in the commission’s rules, “any subject matter of user to the regulatory jurisdiction of the commission. “
According to crusade fundraising records reviewed through Fox News Digital, several board members and key operators of Tennessee-based solar energy company Silicon Ranch donated thousands of dollars to Presley in 2018 and 2021.
While Silicon Ranch is a Tennessee company, the Mississippi Public Utilities Commission found in 2017 that it had jurisdiction over the company when it built a solar farm in Lauderdale County, Mississippi, though the commission noted that it is not technically a utility.
“The petitioner, Silicon Ranch, is not, and does not intend to become, a public enforcement under the laws of the State of Mississippi. Although the petitioner, Silicon Ranch, is not a public application, it is a ‘different person. ‘”‘ within the meaning of § 77-3-14,” the Commission’s order states.
Former Democratic Tennessee Gov. Philip Bredesen, who is the founding chairman of Silicon Ranch, gave Presley $1,000 on Oct. 27, 2021.
Silicon Ranch board chairman Matthew Kisber gave Presley a total of $2,000: $1,000 on Dec. 30, 2018, and another $1,000 on Oct. 26, 2021. Reagan Farr, president and CEO of Silicon Ranch, donated $1,000 on October 29, 2021.
Matt Beasley, Silicon Ranch’s board director and director of advertising, made two $1,000 donations to Presley on Dec. 30, 2018, and Oct. 27, 2021.
Presley bragged online about the approval he gave Silicon Ranch in August 2017 to build a solar farm in Lauderdale County and also approved the Silicon Ranch solar farm in Lee County in January of next year.
In addition, Presley earned a total of $21,000 from North Carolina-based solar energy company Pine Gate Renewables between 2018 and 2022: $1,000 on Sept. 14, 2020, and two $10,000 bills from the energy company on Dec. 29, 2021, and Jan. 20, 2022.
Pine Gate Renewables and Missouri renewable energy company Birch Creek Development, LLC, in 2020 partnered with the Mississippi Public Utilities Commission as partners in connection with the progression of a Mississippi green energy allocation called Moonshot Solar, LLC.
“I testify to Moonshot Solar’s petition to obtain a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the Mississippi Public Utilities Commission,” Piper Miller, director of progression for Pine Gate Renewables, told the PSC on May 21, 2020.
Presley also earned $500 in donations from various Pine Gate Renewables workers and corporate managers, and added CEO Ben Catt on Oct. 12, 2021, as well as President and COO Ray Shem on Oct. 13, 2021.
Fox News Digital also received screenshots of an internal ballot made through Democratic ballot company Impact Research, of which Presley is a consumer, which tested the waters for negative messages opposing Presley.
The survey inquiry turns out to admit that the Public Utilities Commissioner has taken tens of thousands of dollars from the entities it regulates.
“While serving on the Public Utilities Commission, Brandon Presley earned more than $50,000 in crossover contributions from the teams he regulates,” it reads. judges. “
“Please indicate whether this raises very serious considerations, serious considerations, minor considerations or no genuine consideration for you about Brandon Presley,” he continued, before indicating the voting options.
Former Mississippi Public Utilities Commissioner Leonard Bentz, a Republican, told Fox News Digital that he would “lose sleep at night” because he managed his own campaign finances to make sure any mistakes that might have been made were made through him and no one else.
Bentz said he backed checks that opposed state laws while he was commissioner and would return cash even if it came from an attorney whose company had worked with an energy company before the commission, even if the attorney had nothing to do with the commission itself.
The former commissioner also said Mississippi’s state law “is self-explanatory” and that if he had taken cash from a regulated entity prior to the commission, he “probably would have been in trouble. “
“I mean, I can’t be as rigorous as Brandon Presley tried to pass himself off, that anyone who comes before the Public Service Commission for approval of a certificate would settle for something like that,” Bentz said.
“It amazes me,” he added.
Presley’s communications director, Michael Breyer, told Fox News Digital, “This is a lie and a desperate attempt by Tate Reeves to distract attention from the fact that he is the most corrupt governor in Mississippi history. “
“Under Tate Reeves’ watch, $77 million was stolen and diverted from workers’ families to Tate Reeves’ outstanding non-public athlete and coach friends,” Breyer said.
“Brandon is the candidate in this race with a plan to reclaim the war on corruption from day one, while Tate Reeves’ crusade continues to be funded through central figures in the largest public corruption scandal in the state’s history,” he continued.
The Mississippi Free Press found that there is no evidence that Reeves played a role in the misappropriation of state welfare funds.
Presley’s crusade also noted that Republicans in the state have also accepted crusading donations from the entities they represent.
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The Democrats’ crusade also pointed to 2017 court records and claimed that because Silicon Ranch didn’t need to be a public utility, the company wasn’t under the commission’s jurisdiction.
Silicon Ranch, Pine Gate Renewables and Impact Research responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Houston Keene is a Fox News Digital politician. History tips can be sent to Houston. Keene@Fox. com and on Twitter: @HoustonKeene