WASHINGTON—Exelon Corp., one of the largest U.S. utilities, spent $3.9 million to lobby the federal government in 2007.
The company lobbied on various appropriations bills and on legislation dealing with climate change, nuclear power, pension protection, tax credits, uranium sales and trade, and more, according to a disclosure form posted online Feb. 14 by the Senate's public records office.
Chicago-based Exelon spent more than $2.1 million in the second half of 2007 to lobby on those issues.
Some in the domestic nuclear power industry have said the U.S. does not have enough enrichment capacity for the existing demand, while critics question the need for new facilities since the U.S. could lift import restrictions from other countries.
Shipments of uranium from Russia, which supplies about 40 percent of the radioactive fuel for U.S. commercial nuclear reactors, are due to be cut roughly in half by 2013. Besides Congress, Exelon lobbied the Environmental Protection Agency, White House, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Federal Trade Commission, Federal Communications Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, the departments of Energy, Justice, State, Labor, Commerce, Treasury, Homeland Security and more.
Lobbyists are required to disclose activities that could influence members of the executive and legislative branches, under a federal law enacted in 1995.