The Philadelphia Gas Commission has given Philadelphia Gas Works until November 13 to hand over a complete accounting of every free trip, gift, meal and ticket the utility's CEO, Seth Shapiro, has accepted from outside groups since he took the job in January 2022. The demand follows reporting that the Phillies paid for Shapiro's four-day spring training trips to Clearwater, Florida, every year from 2022 through 2025, even as PGW spent more than $1 million advertising with the team.
Per a memo obtained by WHYY News, the commission sent its request to PGW on October 23, asking for the dates, providers and dollar values of every trip and gift Shapiro has received since January 1, 2022, along with a full list of events he attended as CEO and which PGW employees went with him. The memo also seeks copies of Shapiro's original and amended financial disclosure statements, details of his involvement in any related business decisions, and information on whether PGW's ethics counsel was consulted before he accepted the benefits.
The commission, which has five members and oversees the finances of the city-owned utility, is also asking for information about any internal reviews, findings or corrective actions tied to the gifts. The requests go further than what Pennsylvania's own ethics law requires. Under the Commonwealth's financial-interest disclosure rules, public officials must report the source and amount of qualifying transportation, lodging or hospitality payments or reimbursements when actual expenses exceed $650 in aggregate per year, and qualifying gifts valued at $250 or more in aggregate.
Years of Undisclosed Trip Values
The Phillies paid for Shapiro's spring training trips for at least four consecutive years, according to public filings reviewed by WHYY News. State law requires reporting the source and amount of qualifying transportation, lodging or hospitality payments or reimbursements when actual expenses exceed $650 in aggregate per year, as well as qualifying gifts valued at $250 or more in aggregate. The outlet's previous reporting found he disclosed dozens of trips without listing their worth on his ethics forms for 2022 through 2025.
After the Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission contacted him and requested an amended form, Shapiro revised his 2025 filing but left the prior three years unchanged. On that amended 2025 report, he estimated the Phillies hospitality at $2,500 and also disclosed a separate trip valued at $4,200 paid for by the pipeline conglomerate Enbridge. Shapiro's disclosures over the years also listed hospitality from Independence Blue Cross, 61 Commodities, Williams Companies and Tioga LNG, though the specifics of those events were not detailed in the filings.
A Utility That Advertises With the Team Paying the CEO's Way
PGW spent more than $1 million advertising with the Phillies between October 2022 and November 2024, public records show, running ads on broadcasts, stadium signage and digital displays. As PGW's chief executive, Shapiro is the one who approves that advertising spending, a detail that has sharpened scrutiny of the free trips he accepted from the same team his utility was paying to promote itself.
PGW's own internal ethics code bars employees from accepting gifts reasonably believed to be connected to, or capable of influencing, their official duties, and requires written permission from the ethics officer for any gift worth more than $250. The utility is owned by the City of Philadelphia and is managed under contract by the Philadelphia Facilities Management Corporation, a nonprofit board that the Philadelphia Gas Commission oversees. PGW's roughly 500,000 residential and commercial customers provide the vast majority of its revenue, and the utility raised rates by 6.6% in December 2025.
Silence From PGW, the Commission and City Hall
The Philadelphia Gas Commission declined to comment on the memo or the information it is seeking, and PGW officials did not respond to a request for comment, according to WHYY News. Shapiro himself did not respond to a request for comment, nor did the Philadelphia mayor's office. PGW also did not answer the outlet's earlier requests for details, and in several cases the value, of the gifts Shapiro received.
Leigh Whitaker, who chairs the Philadelphia Facilities Management Corporation and serves as vice president for government and community affairs at the University of Pennsylvania, did not respond to a request for comment either. Bill Rubin, chief of staff for City Controller Christy Brady, who chairs the Philadelphia Gas Commission, said Brady could not comment at that time, citing a personnel issue.
The commission oversees PGW's fiscal-year budgets, real estate transactions, procurement and contracts, and certain leadership appointments, and its meetings are open to the public, with regular sessions scheduled through fiscal year 2027. Whether PGW meets the November 13 deadline, and what it ultimately discloses, remains to be seen. The case echoes scrutiny elsewhere of executives and free travel, including a California high-speed rail board that reined in its CEO after inspectors found $600,000 in improper travel spending, as reported by CalMatters.
