by Taylor Vance, Mississippi Today October 31, 2023 Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley, the Democratic nominee for governor, has accepted thousands of dollars in donations from people whose companies have come before the commission to seek approval for certain projects. There is no evidence that the political contributions violated any state law.
See who has donated to Brandon Presley A Reeves campaign spokesperson did not substantively answer questions from Mississippi Today for this article but repeated the campaign’s assertion that the donations were illegal because the PSC has some jurisdiction over the solar company. “Mississippi's laws prohibit donations from ‘electric utilities...that come under the jurisdiction of the PSC,’” the spokesperson said. “They do not apply solely to ‘public utilities.
Solar energy company threatens to sue Tate Reeves campaign for airing ‘defamatory’ TV ad Presley sat on commission when Silicon Ranch project was approved Mississippi law defines a public utility as an organization or company that, in part, operates equipment for “the generation, manufacture, transmission, distribution, provision of electricity to the public” for compensation. But Silicon Ranch does not provide electricity to the general public for profit, and the PSC does not set its rates.
Fitch says she’s investigating PAC run by Chris McDaniel treasurer Absence of ethics laws in Mississippi For many years, many elected officials in Mississippi have benefitted from the general absence of “pay-to-play” prohibitions. Candidates for the Public Service Commission, because of past corruption scandals, face stricter campaign finance laws than most other elected officials.
Gov. Tate Reeves' top political donors received $1.4 billion in state contracts from his agencies Though there is no evidence that the Silicon Ranch donations to Presley violate state law, he has accepted thousands of dollars in donations from people who have come before the commission to seek approval for certain projects — though the projects are limited in scope and do not draw down taxpayer funding.