A commission charged with approving Philadelphia Gas Works’ budget on Tuesday denied the utility’s request for $182 million to replace and expand a natural gas liquefier in Port Richmond, siding — at least for now — with environmentalists and concerned neighbors.
City Controller Christy Brady and City Councilmember Mike Driscoll, the chair and vice-chair of the Philadelphia Gas Commission, said PGW did not provide enough information about the project.
“It hasn’t been shown that the replacement project was ready and lacked important details such as design plans and the total costs to ratepayers,” Brady added, in a statement provided after Tuesday’s commission meeting.
Brady and her fellow commissioners approved the remaining $213 million in PGW’s capital spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year and allocated $5 million for engineering and environmental studies of the proposed Port Richmond plant upgrade. The project was tabled and could be reconsidered in the future.
“PGW customers are demanding affordable energy prices,” a spokesperson for the utility told Metro in a statement. “Without a budget that includes funds to support critical components of PGW's LNG (liquefied natural gas) infrastructure, customer safety, reliability and affordability are put at risk.”
Natural gas liquefied at the facility saved PGW customers $90 million in the aftermath of Winter Storm Fern, which dumped snow and brought a prolonged period of frigid temperatures to Philadelphia in late January, utility officials said. That equates to nearly $180 for the average household, according to PGW.
PGW acquires gas during the off-season when prices are lower, liquifies the fuel for easier storage and converts it back for the coldest winter days. The municipally-owned utility says its Port Richmond liquifier, installed in 2002, is nearing the end of its useful life.
Utility leadership is concerned about a plant failure, which has the potential to drive up costs for customers and even disrupt gas service, officials have said. They want to construct a new liquefier, with 50% more capacity, by 2030.
But Robert W. Ballanger, an attorney with Community Legal Services, said the utility had not done enough to justify the project. He is the formal Public Advocate, tasked with standing up for PGW ratepayers.
Ballanger, during Tuesday’s hearing, asserted that PGW “has never faced a shortage of gas” and has had to sell off excess supply.
“It’s just a side hustle for them to sell more LNG,” Eric Stowers, who lives in Port Richmond, told those assembled for a rally Tuesday morning, prior to the gas commission meeting.
Complicating matters are ongoing negotiations between PGW and an undisclosed entity over a potential public-private partnership to develop a liquefier. Such an agreement could reduce or eliminate the cost of the development.
PGW had signaled it was willing to accept conditional funding, to be paid out only if those talks did not end with a deal.
The plant is located along Venango Street between I-95 and Delaware Avenue. Sara Baier, of Port Richmond, testified that PGW has not done enough to engage and inform the surrounding community.
“What is being decided here is enormously important to my neighborhood, the city and to our future,” she explained.
Stowers and Baier received support from their state representative, Joe Hohenstein, who said residents of the River Wards neighborhoods “have lived with years and years of industrial pollution and the health effects that come with that.”
Opponents of the project, such as the HERE for Climate Justice Coalition, had taken credit for delaying the approval of PGW’s capital budget. A vote was initially scheduled for April 14 but postponed over questions about the liquefier replacement.
For years, environmental advocates have been pressuring PGW and the gas commission to move toward renewable energy sources in order to align with the city’s goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
“Nearly 90% of PGW’s $390 million proposed capital budget is designated for gas processing and distribution,” said Alice Lu, a policy analyst for the Clean Air Council. “This locks in fracked gas without a clear plan for how to transition ratepayers towards cheaper, cleaner energy alternatives.”
Once approved, the gas commission’s recommendations about PGW’s financial plans are transmitted to City Council for final authorization.
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