Testimony
of
Matthias Paustian
Clean Energy Committee, Sierra Club DC Chapter
before the
DC Council Committee on Business & Economic Development
Budget Oversight Hearing on
DC Public Service Commission & Office of People’s Counsel
Thank you for the opportunity to offer testimony on the Public Service Commission (PSC). My name is Matthias Paustian, and I am member of the Clean Energy Committee of the Sierra Club’s DC chapter. The Sierra Club is the nation’s oldest and largest environmental advocacy group. We have 3,000 dues-paying members in DC. In my comments today on behalf of the Sierra Club, I will focus on the PSC and climate change.
We understand that decisions by the Public Service Commission are not under the direct control of Chairman McDuffie and the Committee on Business and Economic Development; however, since this is the committee with oversight responsibility, we want to bring these issue to the committee’s attention.
Pursuant to the Clean Energy DC Omnibus Amendment Act of 2018, the Public Service Commission is required “to take into consideration the effects on global climate change and the District's public climate commitments” when making its regulatory decisions.
These climate commitments are ambitious. The District has publicly committed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% below 2006 levels by 2032 and to be carbon neutral by 2050. To achieve these goals, the District will need to stop burning fossils fuels within a few decades.
The PSC needs to take its new climate mission seriously. If we are to stop burning fossil fuels altogether in relatively short order, the PSC must reject any measure that expands fossil fuel infrastructure, in particular for dirty gas.
The PSC should deny the application by Washington Gas (WGL) to add the cost of gas hookups for multifamily buildings to the rate base. I am referring to Formal Case No. 1137. Rate payers as a whole should not pay for the high cost of hooking up gas to multifamily buildings – the individual developer should. In addition, adding this cost to the rate base cost will only lead to more dirty gas infrastructure – a fuel source that is squarely incompatible with the District’s climate goals. In the relatively near future, gas infrastructure in DC will become a stranded asset as the District transitions away from gas, wasting the ratepayers’ investment in new gas infrastructure.
The Sierra Club asks that the Public Service Commission, the Office of People’s Counsel, and the DC Council hold Washington Gas and its parent company, AltaGas, to the commitments they agreed to as part of their merger. The Public Service Commission approved the merger under 85 conditions.
Condition 79 states:
By January 1, 2020, AltaGas will file with the Commission a long-term business plan on how it can evolve its business model to support and serve the District's 2050 climate goals (e.g., providing innovative and new services and products instead of relying only on selling natural gas). After the business plan is filed, AltaGas will hold bi-annual public meetings to report on and discuss its progress on the business plan. [Due Date: January 1, 2020]
The Washington Gas proposal to continue offering subsidized gas hook-ups to multi-family buildings is a direct violation of Condition 79 of the WGL/AltaGas merger. It also contradicts DC’s commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. With the Public Service Commission’s new mandate to take into consideration the effects on global climate change and the District's public climate commitments, and under the PSC’s own approval of the merger, the Washington Gas proposal must be rejected.
But rejecting new gas hook-ups isn't enough. The Sierra Club requests DOEE, the Public Service Commission, the Office of People’s Counsel, and the DC Council press Washington Gas and AltaGas for a serious plan to to meet Condition 79 of the merger and shut off the dirty gas pipeline.
On another matter relevant to the PSC, and to the transition to clean energy, the Sierra Club supports the proposal submitted by Pepco to the PSC for the robust deployment of Electric Vehicle (EV) charging facilities across the city, including chargers for taxi cabs and ride hailing services. This is Formal Case No. 1130. The charging infrastructure for electric vehicles is critical for a clean energy transition in the transportation sector which will substantially reduce air pollution in the District and reduce asthma-related problems for our vulnerable citizens.
Thank you for the opportunity to present the views of the Sierra Club on these important steps toward reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.