New Report Shows National Fuel Increased $$$ to Pols by 300% While Fighting Legislation to Lower Energy Costs

ALBANY, NY (04/09/2024) (readMedia)-- As lawmakers continue to push for legislation in this year's budget that would lower utility bills and kickstart the state's transition to greener, more sustainable energy, a new report exposes National Fuel Gas' (NFG) extensive effort to block passage of the NY HEAT Act (A4592-B / S2016-B) and keep everyday families' energy bills higher. Since lawmakers first introduced legislation that would limit family's utility costs, NFG has increased its contributions to candidates by over 300% - while simultaneously filing plans to raise rates on its customers by 13.7%. In response to NFG's campaign, the Better Buildings NY coalition is running digital ads in Buffalo that point out the hypocrisy of charging more for the same service while opposing legislation to lower costs.

Read the report from Spring Street Climate Fund (SSCF) here.

View the ads from Better Buildings New York (BBNY) here.

"National Fuel would rather spend big to protect its bottom line at all costs than adapt to a changing climate and save its customers money. It's straight out of the corporate polluter playbook, and New Yorkers see right through it. We need Governor Hochul's leadership to stand up to self-interested corporate polluters like National Fuel and to get the NY HEAT Act done for everyday utility customers who struggle with high bills. It's simple: lowering utility bills and fighting climate change is good policy and it's also good politics for Governor Hochul," said John Raskin, President of Spring Street Climate Fund.

"No utility company is doing more to undermine climate legislation in New York State than National Fuel Gas. Sensing a threat to its massive competition-free profits, National Fuel has employed misinformation and fear mongering – decades old oil and gas industry tactics – to spook many Western New Yorkers into opposing this common sense bill that protects their energy affordability. We urge lawmakers to put their constituents before fossil fuel companies' bottom lines by passing the NY HEAT Act in this year's budget," said Anshul Gupta, Policy and Research Director at New Yorkers for Clean Power.

According to the new report from Spring Street Climate Fund, between 2021 and 2023, National Fuel's political action committee quadrupled its contributions to candidates across New York and increased the number of candidates it funded from 5 to 31. Other notable findings from the report include:

• National Fuel's PAC contributions increased from just four and five candidates and committees in 2020 and 2021 to 37 different candidates and committees in 2022, after the NY HEAT Act was introduced.
• In 2022-2023, National Fuel made campaign contributions to 16 of the 19 state legislators with districts within its service area. Since 2021, in National Fuel's service area, the only state lawmakers who did not receive contributions from National Fuel PAC were Senator Tim Kennedy (D), Assemblymember Patrick Burke (D), and Assemblymember David DiPietro (R).
• In Western New York, where NFG is the designated gas utility provider, just 1 of the 6 Assemblymembers who represent the area are a cosponsor to the NY HEAT Act - in other utility areas, an average of 80% of Assembly Members in the majority party support the bill.
• Since 2020, National Fuel has exclusively given to Republican – and not Democrat – electoral committees. Donations to the Republican Assembly and Senate campaign committees have increased over time, with the biggest jump between 2021-2022. In effect, National Fuel funds both incumbent Democrats in Western NY swing districts and the Republican effort to unseat them.

In March 2024, NFG's Board of Directors announced a plan to continue the stock's dividends and begin a $200 million stock buyback program - which will use the company's profits to purchase common stock, raising the price of shares to benefit larger investors. The $200 million program is substantially higher than the $88 million in revenue that the company seeks to fund by raising rates on customers. NFG is investing to make more money for its large investors as it raises prices for everyday customers and campaigns against legislation - the NY HEAT Act - which would lower prices. Worse, last year, NFG was investigated by the Department of Public Service for using ratepayer money to advocate against the All-Electric Building Act and the NY HEAT Act - policies that are in ratepayers' best interests. In March of this year, additional reporting showed that the company has continued to blur the line between its political advocacy and customer-funded "community education" efforts.

Last month, the Better Buildings New York coalition launched a pair of ads that featured Mone, a disabled senior from New York City who is one of the 25% of New Yorkers struggling to afford costly utility bills and who could save, on average, $136 every month if lawmakers pass the full NY HEAT Act. The ads are currently running on TV in the Albany, Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse metro areas and on Facebook across NYS.

Background

According to a recent Siena Poll, cost of living is the most important issue facing most New Yorkers this election season, while more than two-thirds of New Yorkers want to see bold action on climate change.

In October 2023, National Fuel filed for a 29.3% delivery rate increase with the state Public Service Commission to increase annual revenues by $88.8M starting in fall of 2024, despite widespread opposition from Buffalo advocates and residents at a hearing in January 2024, who cited National Fuel's failure to produce a gas transition plan that aligned with state climate goals. In addition to National Fuel, double-digit rate increases from ConEd, National Grid, NYSEG, RG&E, Central Hudson, and O&R have forced too many families across the state to choose between heating and eating.

According to a recent statewide report from WIN Climate and NY Renews, the NY HEAT Act would save the 24% of all households that struggle to afford their energy bills an average of $142 each month-cutting bills in half. In Erie County, where National Fuel Gas operates, the NY HEAT Act would save the 24% of energy burdened residents an average of $109 per month.

New York lawmakers have an opportunity to protect families by passing the NY HEAT Act in the budget and putting a limit on household utility bills to 6% of a family's income. The bill would curtail new investments in the dirty, outdated, fracked gas system to the tune of more than a billion dollars every year on the backs of utility bill payers, while accelerating fossil fuel-generated climate change that supercharges storms, floods, and wildfires and drives deadly extreme heat and cold. The bill also amends the utilities' obligation to provide gas service to allow utilities to provide cheaper and clean heating alternatives at no cost to customers. In addition to cost savings detailed above, the bill gets rid of the unfair 100-foot rule, which forces New York families to subsidize new gas hookups to the tune of $200 million every year.

In January, Governor Hochul included key provisions of the NY HEAT Act in her Executive Budget proposal. Last month, the Senate reaffirmed its support for the NY HEAT Act by passing the full bill, and for the first time, the NY HEAT Act has 76 sponsors in the Assembly-majority support in the chamber. It is a budget priority for the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus. Now, Governor Hochul and Assembly leadership have an unprecedented opportunity to pass legislation that would modernize New York's utility regulations and include critical language to save New Yorkers struggling to afford their heating bills more money for other crucial expenses.

About Better Buildings New York

BBNY is a coalition of organizations working for the equitable decarbonization of homes and buildings in New York State. We are committed to environmental justice and a just transition to all-electric homes and buildings.

About Spring Street Climate Fund

Spring Street Climate Fund is a force multiplier in the climate movement in New York, working with grassroots organizations throughout the state to turn ambitious ideas into public policy reality. We help to run and win strategic, effective campaigns for groundbreaking climate policy that can accelerate our pace of progress in New York and can scale to other states and to the country as a whole.