A3
THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, AuguST 20, 2022
Lawmakers, groups demand investigation over NW Natural’s claims
Allegations of
false advertising
By MONICA SAMAYOA
Oregon Public Broadcasting
More than two dozen
organizations along with
Oregon lawmakers are call-
ing on the state Department
of Justice to investigate Ore-
gon’s largest natural gas util-
ity over what they claim is
false advertising to the pub-
lic and in schools.
On Wednesday, six
elected officials and more
than 30 climate justice and
environmental organizations
submitted a petition asking
the state attorney general
to investigate claims that
NW Natural is misleading
the public and schoolchil-
dren about the environmen-
tal and health impacts of nat-
ural gas.
The company serves
more than 2.5 million people
across the Pacific Northwest.
The letter says NW Nat-
ural is buying “deceptive”
local newspaper advertise-
ments and spending tens of
thousands of dollars creat-
ing children’s workbooks.
Its online materials pro-
mote safety. Workbooks and
activity sheets shared by the
environmental groups are
often more promotional,
with phrases like: “natural
gas, your invisible friend,”
“pump it up” and “natural
gas is great.” The workbook
also states that “natural gas
appliances are safe, efficient,
and economical.”
NW Natural has not
responded to a request for
comment about the letter’s
claims.
The group calling for an
investigation claims the util-
ity is misleading the public
regarding its energy invest-
ments and says NW Natural
is “greenwashing” — a form
of advertising spin to decep-
tively persuade the public
that a company or organiza-
tion’s products are environ-
mentally friendly.
“That’s kind of just the tip
of the iceberg,” Nora Apter,
the climate program director
for the Oregon Environmen-
tal Council, said. “They’ve
really been engaged in
rampant greenwashing for
decades, and that is aimed at
perpetuating their business
model and continuing to
ensure that there is a broad
customer base that is relying
on fossil gas in Oregon.”
Apter said that when peo-
ple hear terms like “renew-
able natural gas” or “natu-
ral gas” they often assume
those words refer to a clean
and safe alternative to fossil
fuels, when in reality those
products are primarily com-
posed of methane.
Methane is a greenhouse
gas that is 86 times more
potent at trapping heat in
the atmosphere than car-
bon dioxide over a 20-year
period. Methane is emitted
from a variety of sources,
including oil and natural gas
systems, landfills, coal min-
ing and wastewater treat-
ment. It’s become one of
Oregon’s fastest-growing
sources of energy and it’s
mostly imported via pipe-
line from across the county.
The state’s natural gas
capacity has tripled over the
past decade. Power from
natural gas-fired energy
plants made up 28% of the
state’s electric generation
and supported 21% of the
state’s energy consumption
in 2018.
“So, we’re talking about
an explosive fuel that cre-
ates really harmful indoor
air pollution,” Apter said.
“And it seems like every day
there’s a new report about
just how harmful burning
methane in our homes is for
our health.”
On its website, NW Nat-
ural has listed several poten-
tial scenarios that would
allow it to decarbonize all of
its gas by 2050, but nothing
is set.
Kristina Edmunson, the
communications
direc-
tor for the Oregon Depart-
ment of Justice, said a team
of attorneys specializing in
Pamplin Media Group
NW Natural is Oregon’s largest natural gas utility.
utility regulation and natu-
ral resources will review the
letter. The agency said its
consumer protection team
has often pursued cases
that involve misrepresent-
ing materials to children
and takes the obligation to
protect the most vulnerable
seriously.
Natural gas facing
many challenges
NW Natural’s future
in Oregon is facing many
challenges — from climate
and environmental justice
groups as well as promises
from the federal government
to move away from fossil
fuels in homes and commer-
cial buildings.
During a global climate
summit in Scotland last
year, the Biden administra-
tion pledged to drastically
cut methane emissions by
2035. Climate scientists and
researchers also rang alarms
in a recent Intergovernmen-
tal Panel on Climate Change
report that said methane
emissions need to be greatly
reduced to limit catastrophic
disasters like increased
drought, heat waves and
wildfires.
There’s also been a major
push to electrify homes
and transition away from
using gas in new commer-
cial buildings. Last month,
the Eugene City Council
moved a step closer toward
banning natural gas in newly
constructed homes starting
in June 2023. Seattle has
already moved to ban nat-
ural gas appliances in new
buildings at least four-sto-
ries tall starting this year.
Bethany Cotton, the con-
servation director at Cas-
cadia Wildlands, said she
main utility watchdog. He
said he did not sign the let-
ter sent to the Department of
Justice or look into the legal-
ity of the utility’s spend-
ing. But he said his group
became aware of the alleged
misuse of funds when NW
Natural proposed raising
rates for customers.
Customers could ulti-
mately face three rate hikes
between last October and
this November. Rates have
already been increased to
reflect the higher commod-
ity cost of natural gas, Jenks
said. NW Natural is pro-
posing two more rate hikes
— another commodity cost
hike and a general rate-case
hike, which would pay for
CEO salaries, advertising,
profits and other company
expenses other than the gas
commodity.
According to Jenks,
ratepayers are looking
at a 42.4% increase in a
13-month period.
He said the Oregon Citi-
zens Utility Board is work-
ing with NW Natural to
reduce rate increases and
settle on what costs can be
put off until after the win-
ter. Jenks said that would
help save ratepayers money,
because winter is when cus-
tomers use gas the most to
heat their homes.
“We’re asking sort of sep-
arately with the company to
say, ‘Can we change when
these are recovered from
customers?’ and try to sort
of alleviate the real prob-
lem that we’re going to have
this winter of people getting
huge bill increase, huge rate
increase, that, if you com-
bine it with a colder than
normal winter, are really
going to destroy people’s
budgets,” he said.
hopes the Department of
Justice will instruct NW
Natural to stop distribut-
ing misleading information
to the public under a state
law that protects consumers
from bad business practices.
Under the Unlawful Trade
Practices Act, companies are
prohibited from passing off
goods or services that mis-
represent their benefits, uses
or services to customers.
“We’d also like to see the
attorney general add a warn-
ing to natural gas to let folks
know that there’s nothing
really natural about it,” she
said. “It’s a dangerous cli-
mate-killing commodity.”
Cotton said the attorney
general could require NW
Natural to add a warning
label in a manner similar to
tobacco and other harmful
products.
“We really have to put
our communities and our
health first and move toward
a safer and more climate
resilient future,” she said.
The letter to the Depart-
ment of Justice also claims
that NW Natural is misus-
ing ratepayer funds to buy
advertisements, such as by
purchasing kids’ workbooks
to distribute in schools, to
lead children to think posi-
tively about natural gas and
to believe that it’s climate
friendly.
Rate increases
Bob Jenks, executive
director of the Oregon Citi-
zens Utility Board, said NW
Natural cannot use any of
its advertising funds to pro-
mote its products and corpo-
rate image.
“Shareholders have to
pay for it,” he said.
Jenks’ group represents
ratepayers and is the state’s
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