Central Ohio鈥檚 LifeCare Alliance is a lifeline for tens of thousands of seniors and medically challenged residents. The Columbus-based charity delivers meals and healthcare to people who need help staying in their homes due to age or other issues. Those people are especially vulnerable to inflation and high energy prices.
鈥淲e have a lot of people who either do not have air conditioning in an old house or they can鈥檛 afford to turn it on,鈥� LifeCare鈥檚 president and CEO Chuck Gehring as a heat wave baked the region. 鈥淎 lot of them won鈥檛 turn it on because they鈥檙e afraid if they can鈥檛 pay their bills they鈥檒l get evicted.鈥�
Gehring took a different tone just days earlier when he spoke at a June 9 in a case where Columbia Gas wants the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to allow a $212 million rate hike. Gehring praised the utility for both its charitable contributions and its benevolence toward clients on utility disconnections.
In response to questions from attorney Angela O鈥橞rien of the Office of the Ohio Consumers鈥� Counsel, Gehring said that for many of LifeCare鈥檚 clients, how much they owe matters less than whether the gas gets shut off, and in that regard Columbia Gas has been a valued partner. 鈥淲e support Columbia Gas and all that they do in the community here,鈥� he said.
Gehring was not the only nonprofit leader to praise Columbia Gas as it asked regulators to let it triple a fixed monthly distribution charge from $16.75 to $46.31. Officials for the United Way of Central Ohio, the Children鈥檚 Hunger Alliance, the Ohio Energy Project, Besa, and the Community Shelter Board also voiced thanks and support for the utility at the June 9 hearing.
None gave direct answers when O鈥橞rien asked if they support the higher charges or inquired how the rate increases would affect the vulnerable populations they serve.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 speak to that,鈥� Besa founder and CEO Matthew Goldstein said, 鈥渂ut what I can speak to is how Columbia Gas is that strong community partner and how they show up in this community with the nonprofits that have already spoken.鈥�
The Ohio charities鈥� display of gratitude before state utility regulators raised alarm bells for Dave Anderson, policy and communications manager for the Energy and Policy Institute. A 2019 by the nonprofit utility watchdog group documented dozens of cases in which charities that got donations from utility companies took .
鈥淭he main concern is that utilities like Columbia Gas use charitable giving for political and regulatory influence,鈥� Anderson said. 鈥淎nd I think this is a great example of that.鈥�
Close ties
Columbia Gas serves about 1.4 million customers in central and eastern Ohio. Its parent company, NiSource, owns utilities in five other states.
Nonprofits that testified in support of Columbia Gas in its rate case spoke about receiving financial gifts from the utility or its parent company. They also shared examples of how company employees volunteered their time to help causes.
鈥淐olumbia Gas is 鈥� proud of its support of community partners through financial contributions from the NiSource Charitable Foundation, a corporate foundation separate from Columbia Gas,鈥� said Eric Hardgrove, director of state communications for NiSource. He added that customer dollars are not used to fund its donations. Ohio law would generally in any case.
The NiSource Charitable Foundation dispersed nearly $7.5 million in charitable donations in 2020, . Sophia Fifner, the foundation鈥檚 executive director, declined to provide the full Form 990 report to the Energy News Network before the IRS posts it online, although generally requires that returns be provided in response to requests.
In 2019, , the 501(c)(3) gave $200,000 to the United Way of Central Ohio. Another $12,720 went to the LifeCare Alliance.
In addition to donations and volunteer time, data from the and other sources show the utility also has some personal relationships with various nonprofits:
- NiSource executive vice president is a former board of trustees chair for the United Way of Central Ohio.
- Columbia Gas program manager is on the board of the Ohio Energy Project.
- NiSource鈥檚 vice president for strategy and risk operations, , is on the Children鈥檚 Hunger Alliance鈥檚 regional advisory board.
- , director of government and public affairs for , is a Besa board member.
- A retired NiSource vice president, , was on the board of LifeCare Alliance through late 2020.
- , now with JobsOhio, was a manager of government affairs and economic development at for 20 years. She was a trustee at the Community Shelter Board from 2010 through 2019.
Appearance of influence
Critics cautioned that the charities鈥� support for utility rate hikes could backfire on them and their organizations鈥� clients.
鈥淲e appreciate the work of charities. But it is awkward and unhelpful for consumers when charities receiving donations from Columbia Gas show up to testify in support of the utility at a PUCO hearing on Columbia鈥檚 $212 million rate increase filing,鈥� said Merrilee Embs, spokesperson for Ohio Consumers鈥� Counsel Bruce Weston.
鈥淭he charities鈥� testimony in support of Columbia Gas at the PUCO could give the unwanted appearance that a utility鈥檚 charitable giving is connected to utility influence,鈥� Embs said. 鈥淣o one involved should want even the appearance of any strings attached to the utility鈥檚 good initiative to support charity.鈥�
The charities鈥� praise for Columbia Gas also troubled Sunrise Columbus member Joseph Glandorf, who also spoke against the utility鈥檚 rate hike at the same hearing where the nonprofit leaders spoke. 鈥淚 wonder: did they come here of their own accord, or did Columbia ask them to?鈥� he asked.
In an emailed statement, LifeCare鈥檚 director of strategic communications Tricia Strahler said Gehrig stands by his testimony. Echoing points and examples from it, she said NiSource has been a strong partner and worked together with LifeCare 鈥渢o help ensure that those most in need do not lose their utility service in their time of greatest need and greatest stress.鈥�
鈥淚 can honestly say that in my 21 plus years at LifeCare Alliance, not once have we gone to Columbia Gas on behalf of a client, and had the gas shut off for non-payment,鈥� Gehring said in the statement.
Ohio law prohibits utility shutoffs when customers have certain medical conditions and give notice. Otherwise, Columbia Gas more than 59,900 times from June 2021 through May 2022. That number was the by all gas utilities in Ohio this past year.
None of the other five nonprofit organizations responded to follow-up questions from the Energy News Network. NiSource鈥檚 Hardgrove would not say whether the company communicated with the nonprofits about the hearing beforehand.
However, among representatives of NiSource, the strategy firm Shumaker Advisors, and the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department apprised the parks department in advance about the June 9 hearing.
鈥淚 also look forward to meeting you in person next week. Thank you again for your support and partnership!鈥� wrote Columbia Gas鈥檚 Macke.
Parks director Bernita Reese testified at the June 9 hearing about Columbia Gas鈥檚 good works. at the NiSource Charitable Foundation also is one of her former work colleagues.
A 2021 study in the concluded that nonprofits that got corporate funding were more likely to comment on rules the donor companies also commented on. Compared to other nonprofits, the corporate-funded nonprofits鈥� comments also were closer in content to those made by the donor companies. And regulators鈥� remarks on final rules were more similar to those of the companies when recent grantees submitted comments.
Ideally, regulators should be aware that companies engage in strategic philanthropy. 鈥淎t a minimum it would allow regulators to weight input taking into account its independence of lack thereof,鈥� said Raymond Fisman, one of the study authors and a professor of behavioral economics at Boston University.
Members of the public also can 鈥減ut pressure on legislators to impose greater transparency on the process,鈥� Fisman suggested.
Rate case continues
Columbia Gas is requesting a 27% increase in its base rate, which covers the cost of delivering natural gas to customers but not the fuel itself. NiSource鈥檚 Hardgrove said that Columbia Gas has not increased that rate in 14 years, and most customers would pay about $10 more per month.
But those bills have steadily risen as riders increased ratepayers鈥� bills. An infrastructure replacement rider started out at about in 2008. The rider now costs. A capital expenditure program rider started in 2018 was initially. Residential customers now pay.
Fuel costs for customers have also risen. Columbia Gas鈥� standard choice plan price of $1.56 per hundred cubic feet in May and June is the 39 cents that plan鈥檚 customers paid during those months in 2018. Some customers are in plans or shop around for other natural gas suppliers.
On July 28, Columbia Gas asked the PUCO to reschedule the case鈥檚 evidentiary hearing to , in order to allow more time for settlement discussions. However, there鈥檚 a big gap in some of the parties鈥� positions.
PUCO staff has recommended a ranging from $35.2 million to $57.6 million per year, while the Office of the Ohio Consumers鈥� Counsel has the increase should be only about.
Columbus resident Tiffany Pinto was unswayed by the charities鈥� testimony in June. As the final speaker at the hearing, she talked about how the rate increase would affect her as a customer and a donor.
鈥淚 contribute to some of these organizations,鈥� Pinto said, 鈥渁nd as a ratepayer, I will have less money in my disposable income to support these organizations.鈥�
This article is provided by, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Ohio Center for Journalism in partnership with the nonprofit. Please join the free mailing lists for or the, as this helps provide more public service reporting.