President-elect Joe Biden’s expected pick for Energy secretary has ties to several influential political donors, including companies from an industry she may have to regulate if she is confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Jennifer Granholm, the Democratic former governor of Michigan, is likely to be formally announced as Biden’s choice to lead the Department of Energy.
While she led Michigan from 2003 until 2011, Granholm supported laws that encouraged energy efficiency. Campaign finance records show that her previous stances on energy and other policies have led, in part, to campaign funding from various businesses and their leaders, including DTE Energy.
In 2008, she signed into law a package that would require more electricity to come from renewable sources and curtail competition among power companies, according to a local report at the time.
Since her time as governor, Granholm has been supportive of the idea of electric and autonomous cars and has pushed back on any potential impact the creation of these vehicles could have on jobs.
Biden’s campaign energy plan includes a push for a “100% clean energy economy,” for the U.S. to reach “net-zero emissions no later than 2050” and for a “historic investment in clean energy and climate research and innovation.”
People familiar with the transition told CNBC that Granholm has a strong record when it comes to clean energy. They said she helped transform Michigan’s economy, making her an ideal choice for Energy secretary if she’s nominated. Part of her success, these people noted, involved listening to all stakeholders across the spectrum. Granholm would bring that same mindset to running the Department of Energy, they said.
A transition official told CNBC that the Biden administration will hold all officials to the highest ethical standards and ensure transparency. Both the sources and the transition official declined to be named as Granholm has not officially been chosen for the post.
The Department of Energy’s office of enforcement “within the General Counsel’s Office engages in compliance and enforcement efforts to ensure products sold in the U.S. meet the energy and water conservation standards,” according to the department’s website. The department regulates utility companies, which in the past has included Michigan-based DTE and Consumers Energy.
The DTE portfolio includes electrical and natural gas utilities as well as “non-utility energy businesses focused on power and industrial projects, natural gas pipelines, gathering and storage, and energy marketing and trading,” according to the company’s website.
In the buildup to Granholm’s 2006 bid for reelection against GOP businessman Dick DeVos, the husband of current Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Granholm’s campaign saw at least $34,000 from DTE’s political action committee, according to Michigan election records reviewed by CNBC.
Between campaign contributions from DTE’s company PAC, Granholm appointed Stephen Ewing, the then president and chief…
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