Senior House GOP lawmakers benefited from energy industry political action committee donations in the final months of 2011, led by Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.), a key subcommittee chairman, who collected more than $40,000 each.

E&E Daily reviewed year-end campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission last week via data collected by CQ Moneyline for chairmen and select senior members of the Energy and Commerce; Natural Resources; Science, Space and Technology; and Transportation and Infrastructure panels.

Whitfield, who chairs the energy and power subcommittee, leads the field with $43,000 in PAC receipts in the fourth quarter, including donations from both Southern Co. and the Southern Co. Employee PAC, which gave $1,000 and $2,000, in December, respectively.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org site, which aggregates campaign finance data, Southern Co. was among Whitfield's leading contributors for the 2012 cycle as of late September. The site, which credits donations from PACs or employees of their respective companies, credits Southern Co. with donating $7,000 to the Kentucky lawmaker's campaign through the end of the third quarter.

Whitfield also received $1,000 from Arch Coal Inc.'s PAC, adding to the $6,000 he had received earlier in the cycle from its PACs or employees, according to OpenSecrets.org data.

The Kentucky lawmaker, whose campaign raised nearly $800,000 in 2011 and had about $1.5 million in cash on hand as of December, likewise received donations from Edison Electric Institute's PowerPAC, the Nuclear Energy Institute Federal PAC, Duke Energy Corp. PAC and Dominion Energy's employee PAC.

OpenSecrets.org found Whitfield had received donations from the oil and gas, mining and electric utilities industries totaling $172,000 through September 2011.

Upton, who faces a primary fight for his western Michigan 6th District seat, reported raising nearly $42,000 from energy industry-related PACs in the final months of 2011.

The Michigan lawmaker received $4,000 from the Northeast Utilities Employees' PAC, $5,000 from Koch Industries PAC and $2,500 from Dominion PAC.

He likewise received donations from the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America PAC totaling $5,000 including a $1,000 in-kind contribution and donations from FirstEnergy Corp. PAC totaling $2,000 and El Paso Corp. PAC totaling $2,500.

OpenSecrets.org found Upton had received donations from the oil and gas, mining and electric utilities industries totaling nearly $213,000 through September 2011.

Upton raised $283,000 in the fourth quarter to bring his 2011 total to nearly $1.5 million. He banked $1.7 million as of Dec. 31.

The Energy and Commerce Committee chairman will face a primary challenge from former state Rep. Jack Hoogendyk (R), who is making his second bid against Upton after losing the GOP primary in 2010.

Hoogendyk, who took 43 percent of the vote last time despite being outspent, is expected to receive the support of the conservative Club for Growth, which has already begun airing ads critical of Upton. That could close the spending gap considerably between the campaigns this cycle.

Other Energy and Commerce Committee lawmakers who racked up significant donations from the energy industry include Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), chairman of the Environment and the Economy Subcommittee, and Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee.

Shimkus reported receiving $20,000 in PAC donations from groups including the Koch Industries PAC, Valero Energy Corp. PAC, Tesoro Petroleum Corp. PAC, Nextera Energy Inc. PAC, Marathon Petroleum Corp. Employees PAC, Halliburton Co. PAC and General Electric Co. PAC.

Shimkus raised more than $1 million in 2011, including $368,000 in the fourth quarter.

Stearns reported receiving a smaller sum, $6,500 in funds from groups including the Westinghouse Electric Co. PAC, Nuclear Energy Institute Federal PAC, the National Mining Association's COALPAC and the Chevron Employees PAC. He raised $99,000 in the fourth quarter, for a year-end total of $371,000.

Other committees

Natural Resources Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) received about $16,000 in donations from various energy industry PACs, according to his fourth quarter campaign finance report.

The largest donations of $2,500 each came from the Devon Energy Corp. PAC and Chevron Employees PAC, as well as another $2,000 from the American Gas Association PAC.

Chevron Corp.-related donations were among Hastings' top contributors through September, donating a combined $7,500, according to OpenSecrets.

Hastings raised $660,000 in 2011, including $143,000 in the fourth quarter.

Fellow Natural Resources Committee member Rep. John Fleming (R-La.), who chairs the Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs Subcommittee, raised $22,000 in similar donations.

Fleming, who raised more than $803,000 in 2011 including $148,000 in the fourth quarter, reported donations from Halliburton's PAC totaling $4,500, ConocoPhillips Spirit PAC totaling $3,000 and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. PAC for $2,000.

Science, Space and Technology Chairman Ralph Hall (R-Texas) raised nearly $15,000 from energy-related PACs, including a $5,000 donation from the Action Committee for Rural Electrification National Rural Electric Cooperative. He also received $2,500 from the Independent Petroleum Association of America Wildcatters fund.

Hall's campaign raised $37,500 in the fourth quarter for a year-end total of $255,000. The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association has been among his top contributors in 2011, with $5,000 in donations as of late September.

Georgia Rep. Paul Broun (R), who chairs the Science panel's Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, raised nearly $18,000 from similar PACs in the final quarter of 2011.

Broun's donors include the Koch Industries PAC, which gave a combined $5,000, the Exxon Mobil Corp. PAC, which gave $3,000, and the Georgia Power Co.'s Federal PAC, which gave $2,500.

Broun's campaign raised $175,000 in the fourth quarter for a year-end total of $724,000.

Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) raised at least $18,000 from energy-related PACs, including donations of $2,500 each from the Association of Oil Pipelines PAC and the Arcadis PAC.

Mica's campaign has raised $700,000 in 2011, including $252,000 in the fourth quarter.

Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), who chairs the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials, raised at least $16,000 from energy industry organizations, including $1,000 each from the Marathon Oil Co.'s Employee PAC, the IPAA Wildcatters Fund, Halliburton Co., Occidental Petroleum and a combined $3,000 from the General Electric Co. PAC.

Shuster's campaign raised $617,000 in 2011, including $229,000 in the fourth quarter.