Energy companies and financial firms have received the lion’s share of federal assistance to corporations since 2000, according to a new report from a watchdog group.
Big banks and Wall Street firms that took advantage of the bailout following the 2008 economic crash have reaped hundreds of billions, and even trillions, of dollars in assistance, according to Good Jobs First, a nonprofit organization that tracks government subsidies to corporations.
Bank of America was the largest single recipient of loan guarantees and bailout assistance, at nearly $3.5 trillion.
Energy companies have received smaller but still sizable federal grants and tax credits worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and a few valued into the billions.
The second leading recipient of such subsidies is NextEra, the parent company of Florida Power & Light. At $1.9 billion, the company ranks just below Iberdrola, a Spanish energy company that’s received $2.1 billion in grants and credits from the federal government.
The group also tracks state and local tax incentives. Tuesday’s report, called “Uncle Sam’s Favorite Corporations,” is the first clear picture of which companies take advantage of federal assistance, according to Phil Mattera, research director for Good Jobs First and the report’s author.
“We now see that big business dominates federal subsidy spending the way it does state and local programs,” he said.
According to the report, the federal government has awarded $68 billion in grants and tax credits to companies since 2000. Six companies have received $1 billion or more, while 21 companies have received $500 million or more.
The largest recipient, Iberdrola, has invested in wind energy projects across the country, with large concentrations in Pennsylvania, Texas, California and Washington state. A provision in the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, better known as the economic stimulus, encouraged investment by U.S. and foreign companies in renewable energy.
But more traditional domestic utility companies also took advantage of federal dollars. The Southern Company, which operates coal, natural gas and hydroelectric plants in Georgia, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi, received nearly $1.5 billion in subsidies.
Duke Energy, based in Charlotte, N.C., and the largest electric utility in the country, received nearly $900 million. Ameren, which operates power plants in Illinois and Missouri, received nearly $600 million.
Twenty-one big banks and financial firms received at least $100 billion in loan guarantees. Four received more than $1 trillion: Bank of America, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase.
Goldman Sachs, which bet against its own clients on securities backed by subprime mortgages, reaped more than $900 billion.