HOUSTON -- Note: The following story is a verbatim transcript of an Investigators story that aired on Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2007, on KPRC Local 2 at 10 p.m.

Tonight, Local 2 investigates millions of dollars that may have affected your electric bill. And no, it's not what you've had to spend.

We discovered it's what the Texas electric industry spent lobbying in Austin as lawmakers made decisions on issues affecting your electric bill.

Was it just good business? Or did all that cash mean lights out for your concerns? Investigative Reporter Amy Davis tracks the money trail.

In the months just before your air conditioner went on full blast and your electric bill hit the summer high, lobbyists hired by the electric industry were burning tracks at the State Capitol in Austin.

"They would be the No. 1 single business interest in the Texas lobby," said Andrew Wheat with Texans for Public Justice. "They have a massive influence."

Wheat says it's all powered by massive amounts of money spent on lobbyists. How much?

Just take TXU Energy, along with Texas Energy Future Capital Holdings, LLC -- the private investment group trying to buy the company.

Together they flooded the capitol with 86 lobbyists, spending somewhere between $1.9 million and $3.7 million during the past legislative session alone.

"That's how you get a receptive audience," said Wheat. "That's how you get your phone calls returned."

Wheat and his Austin non-profit group Texans for Public Justice tracked the lobbying cash spent by all Texas electric companies. It's money spent to get the companies' messages to the legislators you elect -- the same legislators who voted on several bills affecting how much you pay for electricity.

The numbers show TXU is not alone.

Consider this: There are 182 state representatives and senators serving in Austin.

Together, the electricity industry paid for 343 lobbyists -- almost two for every lawmaker.

CenterPoint Energy paid for 16 lobbyists, spending somewhere between $645,000 and $1.3 million.

American Electric Power, which provides electricity to parts of south and west Texas, had seven lobbyists. It paid between $725,000 and $1 million.

The Association of Electric Companies in Texas paid for 21 lobbyists, spending between $460,000 and $975,000.

The total lobbying tab for all of the electricity industry was somewhere between $10 million and $20 million.

Where does that leave you? Critics say it can cut the consumer almost completely out of the legislative process. They say the industry gets much of what it wants, despite complaints by customers.

"We don't have a place at the table," said Wheat. "We don't have two lobbyists for every state lawmaker in Austin. The electric companies do."

"This is something for many of those companies, they feel it takes," said Doug Schuler, who teaches business and government relations at the Jesse H. Jones School of Management at Rice University.

Schuler said it's just good business for the electricity industry to lobby Austin because shareholders want whatever it takes to get what's best for the company.

However, Schuler said just hiring lobbyists doesn't mean a business gets its way.

"It doesn't mean they get exactly what they want," Schuler said. "They'd like that to be the case, but it just doesn't work that way."

The Texas Ethics Commission only requires a company report a range of what it spent on lobbyists. That's why we listed the minimum and maximum amounts.

CenterPoint Energy tells us those amounts represent lobbying for its electricity side and its gas and pipeline businesses. A spokesperson said much of CenterPoint's lobbying was the result of the sale of TXU, and the lasting effect any legislative decisions may have had on CenterPoint.

From deregulation confusion to rising prices, we've heard your electric bill complaints. What did those with the power to make changes say through all of these changes?

Thursday on Local 2 News at 6:50 a.m., Amy tracks a trail of e-mails at the Public Utility Commission. However, it's what we were not able to see that may further your frustrations.

More Information:

Texas For Public Justice: What Texas Electric Companies Spent On Lobbyists