In the late 1910s, Hopson purchased a controlling interest in Associated Gas and Electric, and would grow it into multi international company serving 2 million people.

On October 26, 1908 the New York Public Service Commission hired Hopson as a secretary of the President, five years later placing him as its head of Division of Capitalization.

When Hopson purchased a controlling interest in AG&E, he immediately began buying up more companies, expanding into Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and the Philippines.

[8] In 1935, senator Hugo Black began investigating multiple utility companies who may have influenced the vote on the Wheeler-Rayburn Act.

If scandals can be laid to the utility lobbyists the House will stampede for cover, and its conferees will quickly reflect the change.The investigation began studying large propaganda campaigns that had occurred beginning in 1919.

A study undertaken by the Federal Trade Commission in 1934 stated that "measured by quantity, extent, and cost, this was probably the greatest peace-time propaganda campaign ever conducted by private interests in this country.

Uncovered by Denis J. Driscoll, the investigators were clued into the forgery by the high prevalence of last names in the beginning of the alphabet, with B's making up 14% of the total.

The forgery was discovered when a Western Union operator testified that "During the time the bill was between the House and the Senate, Mr. Herron [an official of Utilities Investing Corporation, which itself was a subsidiary of A. G. & E., a prominent holding company] would come in almost daily for a period of an hour... or two ... and he would dictate these messages to me and the signatures, and his signatures were obtained from a list which he had in his hand, or from the city directory."

The corporations paid for many lobbyists, and oftentimes bought controlling interests in newspapers, or dropped them from their advertising list.

He threatened to drop advertising from The New York Times, the Hearst companies, Scripps Howard and many local papers as well.

[19] Eliza crossing the ice, hotly pursued by bloodhounds, had nothing on Howard C. Hopson, Through the corridors of leading Washington hotels, over the rolling meadows of near-by Virginia, through the highways and byways of adjacent Maryland, troops of Congressional agents, G men, police, and assorted sleuths sniffed excitedly on the trail of the elusive utility baron.When Hopson was finally brought to court, the two chambers of Congress came into disagreement about who would get to question him.

On January 9, 1940, he was found guilty and sentenced to five years in prison on 17 counts of mail fraud by Alfred Conkling Coxe Jr.,[22][23][f] and an additional two for income tax evasion.

[11] In the bankruptcy of Associated Gas & Electric, Denis J. Driscoll and William Thorp were appointed to deal with the settlement and break up/reorganization of the company.

In approving the reorganization, the SEC stated that AG&E was simply "media for a gigantic scheme to hinder, delay and defraud.

"[8] The direct descendant of AG&E was the General Public Utilities corporation, and the New York State Gas and Electric Company.