Climate activists want a seat at the table when it comes to PGW’s budget. The city has a proposal to prevent that

This story is part of the WHYY News Climate Desk, bringing you news and solutions for our changing region.

From the Poconos to the Jersey Shore to the mouth of the Delaware Bay, what do you want to know about climate change? What would you like us to cover? Get in touch.

In a scathing letter to the Philadelphia Gas Commission, the Public Advocate, which represents ratepayers, has condemned proposed new rules to limit public participation in the budget process for Philadelphia Gas Works, describing it as “unfair, undemocratic and inconsistent with good governance.”

The new rules proposed by the Gas Commission would only allow full participation in the early stages of the budget proceedings to Community Legal Services, which acts as the Public Advocate. All other individuals or entities would be excluded from having similar input.

This change would not prevent public comment during budget hearings, nor does it exclude written testimony to the proposed budget. But advocates say the most meaningful participation happens prior to any proposals and prior to the public hearings, where individual testimony is often limited to a couple of minutes and rarely influences decisions.

During budget proceedings, however, parties to the legal process can ask for and get answers to questions that would inform their testimony and legal briefs. This includes seeking discovery, providing their own expert witnesses, and cross examination of PGW witnesses. This earlier stage of the process, advocates say, can influence the budget much more than any testimony at a public hearing.

“Now, more than ever, with the energy emergency and burdens of extreme costs, we need community input to co-create solutions,” said POWER Interfaith’s Julie Greenberg. POWER is a climate and racial justice organization that has participated as a party to PGW budget cases in recent years as a way to push the city-owned fossil fuel utility to transition to clean energy.

The new rules would exclude groups like POWER, or any other individual ratepayer or group.

Greenberg said it’s useless to testify at budget hearings because at that point the decisions have already been made. Instead, she says, they want a seat at the table from the beginning, during the budget proceedings, to ensure they can fact-check any of the company’s claims and provide input from those with expertise on the clean energy transition.

“If we don’t see line items for a rapid transition away from fossil fuel in the budget and for clean energy, then there is no plan [to transition],” Greenberg said. “We’re bringing experts, big data and community voices.”

In the proposal, which the Gas Commission will vote on Aug. 13, the reason given for the change is “to ensure transparency and efficient processes” regarding the budgetary proceedings. The commission has said that with limited staff, having too many parties involved in the budget proceedings slows down the process and makes it difficult to get the budget approved in a timely fashion.

While the role of the Public Advocate is not impacted by the new proposal, Rob Ballenger, Community Legal Services attorney, challenged the Gas Commission’s justification in his letter and takes issue with what he says is a regulation that specifically targets the advocacy of POWER Interfaith.

Ballenger wrote in the June 5 letter to the commissioners that the new rule, “has at its core the misguided purpose of excluding POWER Interfaith … from meaningful participation in PGW-related proceedings.”

In a statement, the city said the proposal “aims to maximize the efficiency of Gas Commission hearings while allowing for public comment. The City maintains that the proposed regulation is lawful and will support its implementation if approved.”

‘Overburdensome’ and ‘inefficient’

Restrictions on budget participation were first floated by PGW back in 2022, citing the current process as “overburdensome” and “inefficient.” For decades, it was unusual for anyone but Community Legal Services, in the role of Public Advocate, to participate in the legal proceedings that occur ahead of public hearings. The request from PGW came after POWER Interfaith began playing a larger role in the process as part of its effort to push the utility to reduce its carbon footprint.

PGW is owned by the city of Philadelphia. Day-to-day operations are conducted by its executives in conjunction with the Philadelphia Facilities Management Corporation. The Gas Commission oversees PGW’s budget proceedings and approves both its capital and operating budgets. City Council grants final approval on the basis of the commission’s recommendation.

Testifying in City Council back in 2022, POWER’s Rev. Dwayne Royster said the request from a “public company owned 100% by Philadelphians” to limit the group’s role was “unacceptable.”

Since PGW proposed new regulations in September 2022, the Gas Commission, with the assistance of the city’s Law Department, worked to draft the current proposal and released the “Regulation on Policies for Proceedings Before the Philadelphia Gas Commission” in April.

Ballenger wrote in his letter that the new rules violate the state’s Environmental Rights Amendment, as well as the city charter. But given the rule was written and reviewed by the Law Department, it indicates the city believes the new regulation is legally sound.

In an interview, Ballenger emphasized that the role of the Public Advocate is sharply focused on PGW spending as it relates to rate increases, not climate change. Ballenger brings witnesses who have expertise in utility finances to testify on how changes could impact impoverished ratepayers. But he said including groups that focus on climate issues and the future of PGW’s business model is useful and appropriate. He said in the most recent budget proceedings, POWER actually flagged a flaw that no one else did.

“POWER has not disrupted the budget proceedings. It has met all its deadlines and it actually found a mistake in the budget, resulting in savings of $1.2 million,” Ballenger said in an interview.

POWER Interfaith views budgets as “moral documents” and, as part of its advocacy, has tried to persuade PGW to transition away from fossil fuels and toward renewables like networked geothermal. The Gas Commission did approve $500,000 for a geothermal feasibility study in the Fiscal Year 2023 budget, but it’s unclear what, if anything, has come of that.

The only other group that Ballenger recalls participating as a party to the proceedings in the past is the union that represents PGW’s more than 1,100 union employees, Gas Workers Local 686. They too would now be excluded. Efforts to reach the union were unsuccessful.

If the Gas Commission endorses the new rule, it then gets published online by the Department of Records, with whom the public has 30 days to request a public hearing. After a hearing, a report is then filed in which the regulation can be modified with approval of the Law Department. It would take effect 10 days later.

Greenberg said if the new rules get approved, legal challenges may be filed.

“Luckily we live in a democracy and we own PGW,” she said. “So we intend to engage and work with elected leaders to achieve oversight of our municipal gas utility.”

PGW did not respond to several requests for comment.

This story has been updated with a statement from the city.