Clean Air Council Urges City Council to Diversify PGW’s Energy Portfolio

Clean Air Council will testify at Wednesday’s City Council hearing on the future of Philadelphia Gas Works.

When: Wednesday, Feb 9th, 2022, 1PM

Where: City Council Public Hearing on Sustainability and Diversification of the Philadelphia Gas Works https://phlcouncil.com/watch-city-council/ 

Who: Joseph Otis Minott, Esq., Clean Air Council Executive Director and Chief Counsel 

The Council greatly appreciates the opportunity provided by the Committee on Finance and the Committee on Transportation and Public Utilities to speak on the need for PGW to diversify its operations beyond fossil gas. Clean Air Council’s full testimony is available at this link. This is a brief excerpt:

“The biggest flaw in the Philadelphia Gas Works Business Diversification Study is its underlying assumption that the city-owned utility must continue to operate primarily as a gas utility. There is no justification for such an assumption and starting with that as a premise substantially limits future options for a city-owned utility. Unfortunately, this resulted in a weak and unambitious study. 

The transition away from fossil gas is necessary to meet carbon reduction goals and to maintain the health of Philadelphia’s residents. It is well established that reliance on fossil gas contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and global climate change. In addition, recent studies have shown that the use of gas for cooking creates unsafe indoor air quality that threatens the health of Philadelphia families, especially children. PGW’s infrastructure is very old and leaks extensive amounts of methane, a particularly potent greenhouse gas.”

CONTACT: Russell Zerbo, advocate, rzerbo@cleanair.org, 215-567-4004 ext. 130

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