Supervisor Gore's Brother Represented Party in Potter Valley Hydroelectric Project Relicensing
Sonoma County Supervisor Gore's brother, Thomas Gore, represents Constellation Brands in PG&E's FERC license surrendering process for Potter Valley Hydroelectric Project
As PG&E and Constellation Brands stock values continue to plummet, is the Gore Family potentially negotiating with the utility giant to protect the financial assets of both parties, while intentionally destroying the water supply of the masses?
The Potter Valley Project (PVP) is a 9.4-megawatt hydropower project located on the Eel River and the East Branch Russian River in Mendocino and Lake Counties, California, about 15 miles northeast of the city of Ukiah. The Project is currently licensed to the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E). Project features include Lake Pillsbury, a 76,876 acre foot storage reservoir impounded by Scott Dam; Van Arsdale Reservoir, a 700-acre storage reservoir impounded by the Cape Horn Diversion Dam; and a tunnel, conduit, and penstocks that divert Eel River water to the project’s powerhouse located in the Potter Valley.
On March 24, 2025, the Two-Basin Solution Partnership (Eel / Russian) published the following article from The Press Democrat:
Battle lines drawn months before PG&E submits final application to decommission Potter Valley hydropower plant
People from Humboldt to Marin counties gathered in Cloverdale to express skepticism about future water management strategies sparked by the plant’s impending shutdown
More than 200 people from Humboldt to Marin counties packed the Cloverdale Veterans Memorial Hall Thursday night for a town hall meeting about how PG&E’s planned shutdown of its Potter Valley hydropower plant would impact the region’s water supply.
The controversial project involves the removal of the Scott and Cape Horn dams and PG&E’s nearby hydroelectric facility in Lake County, with PG&E saying it won’t shut down the plant and begin dam removal until 2028 at the earliest.
Residents and some elected officials are concerned the project will spark the potential loss of water from the Eel River to the Russian River that individuals from Mendocino, Sonoma and Marin counties have relied on for more than 100 years.
“This plan is unacceptable,” said Cloverdale Fire Protection District Chief Jason Jenkins. “As a fire chief, I’m here to say this does not protect our community.”
Bronte Edwards, a first generation sheep farmer from Sebastopol, said the project is setting farmers “up for failure,” and told leaders that if “you don’t have our backs, we will organize.”
But Sonoma County Fourth District Supervisor James Gore and others, including engineers from Sonoma County’s water agency, say the plan, while not perfect, will provide the region with enough water to meet public safety, residential and business needs.
“We are here because 10 years ago PG&E decided the [Potter Valley] project wasn’t economical,” Gore told the crowd. “Those of us impacted have been fighting like dogs to figure out what is best for our communities.”
The back-and-forth comes as a key date approaches: July 29 marks the deadline for PG&E to submit and distribute its “final surrender application and decommissioning plan” with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which has final say over the project.
The public comment period for the draft plan has closed. Local leaders connected to the project say the power company has no plans for town halls, but they have discussed holding additional public forums so the public can understand how the future teardown of the power plant would affect their communities.
The two-basin plan
For nearly a decade, leaders from neighboring counties, Native American tribes and nonprofits have worked together to figure out how to handle the hydroelectric plant’s impending decommissioning.
Seven entities — Sonoma County, the Mendocino County Inland Water and Power Commission, Humboldt County, the Round Valley Indian Tribes, Trout Unlimited, California Trout, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife — formulated a solution known as a two-basin plan.
Currently, water diversions caused by opening the Scott and Cape Horn dams are controlled by PG&E, which holds water rights related to them. Through contracts, the power company allots flows into the Potter Valley Irrigation District and Eel River, providing water into Mendocino and Sonoma counties.
Once the dams are decommissioned, the approved two-basin solution would go into effect.
David Manning, environmental resources manager with Sonoma Water, the county’s water agency, told town hall attendees, the two-basin plan would divert an amount of water from the Eel River to the Russian River “not dissimilar” to what is currently flowing.
In other words, periodic releases totaling 30,000 to 40,000 acre feet of water that are now flowing from the Eel River to the Russian River would keep coming … but at different times of the year.
Those releases would begin once the dams are decommissioned — a process that requires the aforementioned federal approval. A joint powers authority called the Eel Russian Power Authority would be responsible for managing the new diversions under the new set of rules.
Some say those new rules are too stringent and won’t bring water to Sonoma County when it’s most needed.
At the Cloverdale meeting, they voiced concerns that a bulk of the water would be released during the wintertime, when water isn’t a scarcity ― and that the county lacks adequate facilities to store it.
John Volpi, a Petaluma farmer and Geyserville business owner, echoed most people’s concerns: “We need storage. It’s common sense.”
Manning and his colleague, Donald Seymour, principal water agency engineer at Sonoma Water, don’t fully disagree. But they also noted that Sonoma Water has storage projects in the works, including aquifer storage recovery and expansions of irrigation ponds, that allow the agency to store more water than what Lake Mendocino currently holds.
Manning said, “These things need to happen simultaneously. There’s not going to be enough storage. That’s going to take time.”
Link: https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/cloverdale-potter-valley-project/
In January 2025, Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) issued their Potter Valley Hydroelectric Project (FERC Project No. 77) Draft Application for Surrender of License and Application for Non-Project Use of Project Lands.
Per the draft application document:
Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) has prepared a Draft Surrender Application and Conceptual Decommissioning Plan (Surrender Application) for the Potter Valley Hydroelectric Project (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [FERC or Commission] Project No. 77) (Project) consistent with 18 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Section (§) 6.1. PG&E’s goals upon conclusion of the decommissioning process are to (1) remove the Project facilities and features including but not limited to Scott Dam and Cape Horn Dam, (2) remove the Project from FERC and Division of Safety of Dams jurisdiction; and (3) no longer operate or maintain the Project and Project features in the future.1
The document provided a full listing of parties consulted in the preparation of the Surrender Application. Mr. Thomas Gore, Director of Sonoma/Mendocino Vineyards, Constellation Brands was included amongst those surveyed.
Brothers James Gore (pictured left) & Thomas Gore (pictured right) appear to be co-owners of Gore Family Vineyards.
Supervisor Gore listed the vineyard as a source of income on previous statements of economic interest submitted to the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC).
According to the Sonoma County Water Agency’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report For the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2024, Constellation Wines US Inc. was considered a Principal Revenue Taxpayer alongside Pacific Gas and Electric Company.
On March 4, 2025, WineBusiness published the following article:
Constellation Eyeing Exit from Wine Business
Constellation Brands Inc. (STZ) is in negotiations to sell its entire wine portfolio to two other top producers in a deal that would see the fifth largest U.S. company throw in the towel on what’s been a brutal fight for share in a decreasing wine market.
Speculation on Constellation’s possible sell off has swirled for some time given its success producing and importing Mexican lager and lackluster wine sales. WineBusiness spoke to several people with knowledge of the negotiations and potential buyers.
The purported deal would break up Constellation’s wine portfolio between Delicato Family Wines and Duckhorn, which was acquired by Butterfly Equity in December 2024. Coastal brands and assets would go to Duckhorn while Delicato would acquire Constellation’s Central Valley wine business.
According to the WineBusiness Analytics database, Constellation Wines produces nearly 15 million cases a year. The company’s largest facility, Woodbridge Winery, is in Lodi, Calif., and produces 12 million cases a year. WineBusiness Monthly estimated Constellation sold 14 million cases of wine in 2024.
In addition to Woodbridge, Constellation owns Robert Mondavi Winery, Schrader Cellars, Booker Vineyard, Sea Smoke, Lingua Franca, Simi Winery and dozens of wine brands.
Delicato was No. 4 on the WineBusiness list of the Top 50 wine companies with 16.3 million in sales volume last year and The Duckhorn Portfolio was No. 14 with an estimated 2.5 million in sales.
Constellation did not respond to a request for comment and Delicato opted to not comment. A representative for Duckhorn said the company does not comment on “market rumors or speculation.”
This past summer, the New York-based beer, wine and spirits company disclosed in an earnings call it was considering selling some of its less premium, non-core brands and vineyards to help offset deficits from overall industry downturns as well as its recent acquisition of Sea Smoke in Santa Barbara County. At the time, CEO Bill Newlands expressed a belief that the wine industry would make a turn around by the end of 2024.
That turnaround never came, however, and in the three months ended Nov. 30, 2024, Constellation reported wine sales had fallen 16.4% to 5.1 million cases, netting $431.4 million in sales, down 14% versus 2023. In the same period, beer shipments were up 1.6% to 102.7 million equivalent cases while net sales had increased 3% to $2.03 billion.
In the same earnings report, Constellation reported for the 2025 fiscal year it would be focused on its beer brands, including Corona Non-Alcoholic, Modelo Aguas Frescas, Pacifico Clara and Modelo Oro.
According to the most recent NIQ data scan, total beer sales value declined less than one percent in the 52 weeks ended Jan. 25 while sales volume declined nearly three percent. Meanwhile, wine sales value and volume fell nearly 4% and 6%, respectively.
In another sign of beer’s strength relative to wine’s weakness, Reuters reported on Feb. 14 that Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway had disclosed a $1.24 billion investment in Constellation made in the last quarter of 2024. The investment is reportedly Buffet’s first in a beverage alcohol producer and helped lift Constellation’s stock price by nearly 7% although it remains more than 20% less than it was a year ago according to the WineBusiness Stock Index.
News of Buffet’s investment came at the same time Treasury Wine Estates announced it had been unable to sell its commercial wine division last year. The Australian firm is No. 6 on the Top 50 list and had announced its intent to offload lower-priced wines in August but was unable to find a buyer.
Yahoo Finance’s 5 Worst-Performing Stocks in the S&P 500 in January 2025 included Constellation Brands:
Investors didn't react well to Constellation Brands' (NYSE: STZ) quarterly results. The stock price fell 18.2% for the month. Its fiscal third-quarter sales dipped 0.3% to $2.46 billion. Constellation Brands' adjusted earnings per share were $3.25, virtually unchanged from last year's $3.24.
PG&E (NYSE: PCG) shares declined by 22.5% in January as the market weighed how it could be affected by the California wildfires.
The Eel-Russian Project Authority (ERPA), formed in December 2023, is a joint powers authority formed by a joint exercise of powers agreement between the County of Sonoma, Sonoma County Water Agency (Sonoma Water), and the Mendocino County Inland Water and Power Commission.
ERPA will have the power to negotiate with the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) as the utility moves ahead with plans to surrender operations of the Potter Valley Hydroelectric Project and to decommission the Scott and Cape Horn dams on the Eel River. The new authority will also have the legal capacity to own, construct and operate a new water diversion facility near the Cape Horn Dam.
Supervisor Gore serves on the Board of Directors.
The Project Authority’s notice of intention to adopt the conflict of interest code has advised any interested persons to submit written comments relating to the proposed code by submitting them no later than May 9, 2025 to Mr. Scott Shapiro, Outside Counsel, Downey Brand: (916) 444-1000, sshapiro@downeybrand.com.
Supervisor Gore’s wife, Elizabeth Gore, previously served as Board President of Rebuild North Bay. The ‘nonprofit’ lobbied for PG&E with monies intended for the fire victims.
Following the tragic Tubbs Fire in 2017, a Sonoma County based “nonprofit,” Rebuild North Bay, was founded by Darius Anderson. As indicated in the articles of incorporation for this 501 (c) (3) charitable organization, the premise was to support economic recovery and workforce development. But rather than supporting the initial mission and vision proposed, the organization spent approximately $2 million to lobby for PG&E in Washington D.C. alongside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. According to the Pacific Sun, “the day after Christmas 2017, PG&E cut Rebuild North Bay a check for $2 million; the utility’s largesse accounted for 75 percent of the foundation’s contributions in the ensuing months.” Per the IRS’ regulations, “in general, no organization may qualify for section 501(c)(3) status if a substantial part of its activities is attempting to influence legislation (commonly known as lobbying).”
Rebuild North Bay’s Founder Darius Anderson, is a close colleague of Governor Newsom, owner of Platinum Advisors, “California’s premier government relations and lobbying firm,” and owner of Sonoma Media Investments, the parent company of the Press Democrat, Sonoma County Gazette, Sonoma Index-Tribune, North Bay Business Journal.
Has Supervisor Gore remained unbiased during the Potter Valley Dam license surrendering process? Should staff and elected officials be forced to abstain from discussions in decision-making processes that directly affect the finances of their immediate family members and business partners?
Does Supervisor Gore represent the best interests of constituents or is he preserving the resources and finances of his immediate family while destroying the lives of the remaining taxpayers?
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money”
(Matthew 6:24).
Such a tangled web of deception! Gore and his buddies do not care about anything unless it lines their pockets.
The man is a traitor to Sonoma County and a fraud!
Thank you for work, Adina.