Climate change takes center stage at Philadelphia Gas Commission meeting

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More than a dozen ratepayers testifying at a Philadelphia Gas Commission meeting Tuesday urged the commissioners to take action on climate change and strike down a proposal that would limit public participation in Philadelphia Gas Works’ budget process.

“We the public own PGW,” said Ella Israeli, 28, who lives in West Philly. “And PGW and the Gas Commission should welcome organizations that represent the people’s interests to participate and not try to exclude them.”

Israeli, a social worker with Philly Thrive, said she’s very worried about the impacts of climate change, and wants to see PGW shift away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy.

“Every single summer is consistently the hottest summer on record. I want to live in a world where I can live in Philadelphia and continue to experience snow,” she said.

In a surprise move, after about an hour of testimony against the proposal that included City Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke, the commission tabled a vote on the new rules until further notice.

In a statement emailed after the meeting, PGW spokesperson Dan Gross wrote that the utility “appreciates the care, time, and effort the Philadelphia Gas Commission continues to dedicate to evaluating how to improve the efficiency and fairness of its review and approval process — a process that already costs ratepayers millions of dollars each year.”

Two years ago, climate activists pushed PGW to include $500,000 in the budget to study the feasibility of networked geothermal energy, which taps into the earth’s heat several hundred feet below the surface. But it’s unclear where that project stands.

Meanwhile, as more residents take advantage of federal tax breaks to install heat pumps and energy efficiency upgrades, customers continue to use less gas.

The proposal would only allow full participation in the early stages of PGW’s budget proceedings to the Public Advocate, Community Legal Services, which represents the interests of ratepayers. All other individuals or entities would be excluded from the process. The commission drafted the new rules after a request from PGW.

“PGW’s budget process should be consistent with all other City departments and related entities (such as the Airport, SEPTA, etc.) and resemble other budget processes undertaken by City Council,” wrote Gross in an email.

The 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 after a budget has been finalized, and rarely prompts any changes.

In a statement ahead of the hearing, 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.”

The Gas Commission said the new regulations were developed in coordination with the city’s Law Department “in an attempt to preserve the rights of the public … while addressing conduct and standardizing the process by which the Commission conducts its budgetary proceedings.”

All of the public testimony rejected that.

“This is about insulating PGW from public scrutiny,” said Steven Greenspan, who identified himself as a ratepayer and a member of the group POWER Interfaith, which has in recent years become an intervenor in PGW budget cases as a way to push the utility to transition toward renewable energy. “Climate change is accelerating. But its impact can be lessened if we work together.”

During PGW budget proceedings, parties to the legal process can ask for and get answers to questions that would inform their testimony and legal briefs. The Public Advocate and PGW are always included in this process, and Local 686, the union that represents PGW’s workers, has also been included in the past.

This includes seeking discovery, providing their own expert witnesses and cross-examination of PGW witnesses. This stage of the process, advocates say, can influence the budget much more than any testimony that occurs later at a public hearing.

While PGW is owned by the city, the day-to-day operations are conducted by its executives in conjunction with the nonprofit 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.

Last week, 10 City Council members, led by Councilman O’Rourke, wrote to the Commission urging them to reject the proposal.

“Open participation is absolutely critical to maintain transparency and trust in our public utilities, especially as we face crucial decisions that impact the environment, public health, and our collective futures,” the letter states. “This effort to restrict robust public participation raises serious concerns, and we firmly stand against it.”

In addition to O’Rourke, the letter is signed by Councilmembers Kendra Brooks, Katherine Gilmore Richardson, Isaiah Thomas, Cindy Bass, Mark Squilla, Jamie Gauthier, Jim Harrity, Quetcy Lozada and Rue Landau. Two names not on the list are Councilmembers Curtis Jones Jr. and Mike Driscoll, who also serve as Philadelphia Gas Commissioners.

“Show me what democracy looks like. This is what democracy looks like,” O’Rourke told the commissioners Tuesday. He had been an active member of POWER before his election to City Council.

“Public utilities clearly have a widespread impact on the public,” he said. “And as someone who, like many today, is concerned with the slipping of democracy and all the obvious and otherwise unobvious places, I applaud the current policy that lets groups representing ratepayers ask pointed questions about the budget and the vision of PGW.”

City Controller Christy Brady was the only gas commissioner to testify directly. Brady made several points, including that the “Commission has been operating without any rules of governance.” It’s unclear where Brady stands on the proposed regulations but she said both the “public and the union should have a voice in our process.”

“There has been a suggestion that the public voice does not matter,” Brady said. “I wholeheartedly disagree with that assertion.”

Seeming to offer an explanation for the new rules, Commissioner Royal Brown described past budget processes as chaotic and confusing, when budget deadlines were missed.

But Community Legal Services attorney Rob Ballenger, who represents the interests of ratepayers as the Public Advocate, and first called attention to the proposed regulations in a letter to the commission opposing them, pushed back, saying the most recent missed budget happened in 2018, before POWER began to intervene.

“I don’t think that was in any way, shape or form the product of the process being chaotic. I think it was a process that could not be steered correctly without the right information from PGW,” he said.

After the meeting, Ballenger said that he viewed the commission’s move to table the vote as a “win.”

POWER has said if the proposal gets approved the group may challenge it in court.

Meanwhile, the Gas Commission did take action that pleased the climate activists who testified. It rejected a request by PGW to spend $2 million on a consultant that would help it plan a replacement of its natural gas liquefaction plant.