Michael Bloomberg has been playing a long game to control America’s energy future.
Most people know he’s been funding climate activists in attorney general offices for years.
And green energy activists infiltrated state governments with this awful scheme.
The billionaire’s stealth takeover of energy regulation
You know how your electric bill keeps going up every month? Well, now we know why.
Bloomberg figured out something most Americans never think about – the real power over energy policy isn’t in Washington. It’s in obscure state agencies that regulate your utility companies.
The Washington Free Beacon just uncovered how Bloomberg’s operation has quietly moved beyond attorney general offices. His New York University State Energy & Environmental Impact Center is now placing activists inside public service commissions across the country.
These are the agencies that decide whether new pipelines get built, what kind of power plants can operate, and how much you pay for electricity.
And Bloomberg just bought himself seats at those tables.
His foundation dropped $5.6 million in 2017 to create this infiltration program. Back then, most people thought it was just about funding lawsuits against oil companies.
Turns out that was just the beginning. Bloomberg’s people have been systematically working their way into the regulatory machinery that controls America’s energy infrastructure.
State officials fall for the "free help" scam
Here’s how the con works. Cash-strapped state agencies get approached by Bloomberg’s NYU center offering "free" staff to help with their workload.
Sounds innocent enough, right? What government agency doesn’t want free help?
Except these aren’t neutral public servants. They’re climate activists whose real job is pushing Bloomberg’s green energy agenda from inside the government.
James Van Nostrand, chairman of the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, practically jumped at the opportunity.
"I wanted to sure [sic] this is on someone’s screen, so we can take advantage of this opportunity for free resources," Van Nostrand wrote in an internal email that the Free Beacon obtained.
Van Nostrand even suggested his agency’s office that handles green energy connections would be a "good spot for an NYU fellow."
Translation: Let’s put Bloomberg’s activist exactly where they can force more expensive renewable energy onto the grid.
Louisiana gets two Bloomberg plants
The most brazen example happened in Louisiana, where Public Service Commissioner Davante Lewis actually hired two Bloomberg activists to work on his staff.
Lewis got elected in 2022 with help from a left-wing climate PAC, so maybe we shouldn’t be surprised he opened his doors to Bloomberg’s people.
First came Annie Matthews, a former Biden Agriculture Department official who worked as Lewis’s "special policy adviser on climate change."
Her contract specifically said she’d handle tasks "relating to clean energy, climate change, and environmental matters of regional and national importance."
Notice it didn’t mention anything about keeping Louisiana families’ electric bills affordable.
Then Lewis brought in Rula Thabata, who the Free Beacon describes as a "DEI activist" and "former policy fellow at a Muslim advocacy group."
So now Louisiana has Bloomberg employees making energy policy decisions while pretending to work for the state.
Top law enforcement official sounds the alarm
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill isn’t having any of this nonsense.
She told the Free Beacon the arrangement raises "serious concerns" and might violate state ethics laws.
"This arrangement, if in fact it is happening, certainly causes me to be concerned," Murrill said. "Ethics laws prohibit state employees from receiving payment from sources other than the state for their official duties."
She got right to the heart of the problem: Bloomberg is essentially buying influence over state regulatory decisions.
"My office does not have jurisdiction over ethics violations, but I would have issues with what is essentially a Bloomberg employee and agent having such influence and access to state regulatory offices and matters," Murrill continued.
At least someone in Louisiana government still understands the difference between public service and private corruption.
The broader assault on American energy
This isn’t just about placing a few activists in random government jobs. Bloomberg has a comprehensive strategy to strangle America’s energy independence.
The area Lewis represents happens to be home to petrochemical facilities that provide good jobs for working families. Bloomberg’s foundation launched "Beyond Petrochemicals" in 2022 – a campaign specifically targeting these facilities for shutdown.
See the pattern? Bloomberg plants his people in the government agency that regulates these facilities, then launches external pressure campaigns to destroy the industries they’re supposed to oversee.
It’s a pincer movement designed to eliminate American energy production from both inside and outside the government.
Watchdog group exposes the corruption
Chris Horner from Government Accountability & Oversight perfectly captured what’s really happening here.
"Bloomberg’s group has furiously charged back into the business of placing privately hired activists in government to advance its benefactor’s priorities," Horner told the Free Beacon.
"Bloomberg has poured tens of millions of dollars into providing ‘staff’ to various government agencies—including most notably state utility regulatory commissions, which, like his attorney general push, can impede reliable energy needed to keep our lights on and economy going, and help force more of the ‘unreliables’ into our system."
That last part is crucial. Bloomberg’s activists aren’t just pushing expensive green energy – they’re actively working to make our power grid less reliable.
They want to replace coal and natural gas plants that work around the clock with wind and solar that only function when weather conditions are perfect.
The "nonpartisan" fairy tale
Bloomberg’s people have the audacity to claim their operation is "nonpartisan."
Jessica Bell, deputy director of the NYU center, told the Free Beacon the program "is nonpartisan and offers the fellowship to public utility commissions for the purpose of addressing capacity needs."
Give me a break. There’s nothing nonpartisan about spending millions to install climate activists in government agencies.
Bell also claimed these fellows have their "sole duty of loyalty" to the agencies where they work, "not to the Center or NYU."
Sure. And I suppose these activists just magically forget who’s paying their salaries when they make decisions about energy policy.
The whole setup is designed to give Bloomberg’s agenda official government credibility while hiding the fact that a Manhattan billionaire is calling the shots.
Why Americans have lost faith in government
Stories like this explain exactly why regular people don’t trust government institutions anymore.
You vote for candidates who promise to represent your interests, but it turns out they’re taking direction from wealthy donors who’ve never worried about an electric bill.
You expect state agencies to make decisions based on what’s best for your community, but instead they’re advancing the agenda of someone whose biggest concern is his environmental legacy.
Bloomberg and his allies discovered they don’t need to win elections to control government. They just write checks to place their people in key positions, then claim it’s all perfectly legal because they’re providing "resources."
It’s corruption with a philanthropic bow on top.
Advanced Energy United spokesman Adam Winer tried to downplay his group’s role, saying they just "helped spread the word about commission job openings" and don’t get "involved in hiring."
Right. They just happen to coordinate with Bloomberg’s operation to identify target agencies and facilitate the placement of climate activists. Totally innocent.
The solution starts with exposure
The only way to stop this scheme is to drag it into the sunlight and force our elected officials to choose between serving voters or serving donors.
Every state needs to pass laws prohibiting outside funding for government positions. If Bloomberg wants to influence energy policy, he should run for office himself instead of buying his way into regulatory agencies.
Government agencies should work for the people who elect them, not the billionaires who fund them.
Americans deserve to know when private interests are pulling the strings behind supposedly independent government decisions.
The fact that Bloomberg thought he could run this operation in the shadows tells you everything about how little he thinks of democratic accountability.
Time to prove him wrong.
