The campaign’s latest press release highlights three figures—Dan Dunmoyer of the California Building Industry Association, Robert Dean of IBEW Local 1245, and Lance Hastings of the California Manufacturers & Technology Association—as independent voices. However, utility disclosures show these groups collectively pocketed $604,757 from PG&E, Edison, SDG&E, and SoCalGas between 2023 and 2025. The California Building Industry Association alone received $415,000, with the vast majority sourced from PG&E.
Utilities' Echo Chamber: The Money Behind 'Wildfire Victims First'
A coalition calling itself Wildfire Victims First is aggressively lobbying Sacramento for a utility-backed bailout, yet a new investigation reveals the group is essentially a front. Consumer Watchdog reports that the coalition's public faces are representatives of organizations that received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the very utilities they lobby for.
Alexandra Nagy, Organizing Director at Consumer Watchdog, describes the operation as a choreographed disinformation echo chamber. The coalition is funded by entities like the Edison-backed Powering Progress and the PG&E-funded BRIDGE initiative. Beyond the direct payments, the group’s political reach is vast: a committee sponsored by PG&E and IBEW Local 1245 emerged as a top spender in the 2026 gubernatorial primary. While Nathan Click, Governor Newsom’s former communications director, leads the public-facing effort, Consumer Watchdog’s analysis found that 142 of the 214 organizations within the coalition have received a combined $7.3 million from major utilities over the last three years.
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