The country appears to be in the midst of a populist awakening, with a majority signaling approval for a wave of MAGA-inspired reforms in the recent election that would combat corporate interests, decentralize loci of power, and create a fairer playing field for everyday Americans. Taking note of the shift in the climate, even Democrats in the media have rushed to signal their own populist credentials and have struck a friendlier tune when it comes to Trump.
It remains to be seen if lawmakers will heed this trend as carefully as some media figures already have. We’ll have an early test for that in a number of states starting next month, in which a battle is already quietly brewing over a type of legislation known as right of first refusal acts. Wisconsin seems poised to go first.
Right of First Refusal is primed to be a good litmus test for politicians’ populist credentials because it involves all of the problematic components of politics Americans are seeking to eliminate. ROFR has it all: backroom deals, government-granted monopoly powers, corporate welfare, and, ultimately, the government picking winners and losers while citizens pick up the bill.
While ROFR is a term that can be utilized in a myriad of circumstances, this particular fight pertains to $100 billion in taxpayer funding for new energy transmission lines. Utility companies, having already been granted a government-backed monopoly in most states, are lobbying state lawmakers to pass ROFR bills that will prevent their competition from even bidding on these projects.
If the companies don’t have to compete with others to obtain these jobs, the deals will have granted these projects with no requirement for cost caps, no limits on cost overruns, and a decrease in their guaranteed return on equity. In the end, the utility companies will increase their monopoly power, inherit billions in corporate welfare on the front end, and have zero competition driving their prices down once the end product is produced.
It’s a pretty sweet deal for them: They get taxpayer dollars to create an essential product in the first place, and then they get monopoly power to sell it back to the taxpayers at whatever price they deem fit.
Why would lawmakers go along with such an overtly corrupt plan? Simple. There’s a very good chance some of those corporate welfare dollars they dole out to the companies will trickle back into their campaign funds via donations down the road.
Everyone wins — but the little guy footing the bill. Not super populist, is it?
While the subject might seem niche, the price tags make it anything but a fringe issue. We’re talking about $100 billion in block grants meant to spread energy production across the country — improving the reliability, efficiency, and sustainability of the electric grid. It also should lead to a downward pressure on prices for consumers (more supply, same demand, lower prices), but that’s only if lawmakers allow the free market to work and for competition to create such a driver.
This fight isn’t new to Wisconsin. The utility companies and unions supporting them tried to pass ROFR in 2024 as well but were held off after the issue garnered national attention and condemnation. But they’re coming back with a vengeance in 2025, and the pressure campaign is already gearing up.
Wisconsin legislators would be wise to pay attention to Indiana, which passed a version of ROFR last year. Recently, a federal judge paused the law going into effect after finding it discriminated against interstate commerce and was, thus, unconstitutional.
Americans are ready for a break. They want an affordable quality of life. They want a merit-based economy. That’s not what these utility companies intend to provide. In fact, according to the Energy and Policy Institute, “In 2023, state utility regulators nationwide approved $9.7 billion in net electric rate increases — more than doubling the $4.4 billion in rate hikes they approved the previous year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.”
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Not only have these companies already been jacking up prices for the taxpayers they leech off of, but they’re doing it while their staff spend extravagantly on private jets and spa days and pass on the price tag of their lobbying efforts to the consumers.
It’s time for politicians to pick a side. Either you’re fighting for the people or against them. And ROFR is decidedly the opposition.
Hannah Cox (@HannahDCox) is the president and co-founder of BASEDPolitics and a fellow for the White Coat Waste Project.