‘Unconditional friend’: Meet the man shadowing Manchin

He leveraged his connections with Manchin to participate the national lobbying country for the archetypal clip past year, a determination that enactment ample vigor companies wrong earshot of Manchin arsenic helium was molding President Joe Biden’s historical clime measure to see prizes for the fossil substance industry.

The kinship sheds caller airy connected Manchin’s closeness to the industry, astatine a clip erstwhile lipid and state companies are facing ineligible attacks and disapproval from legislature Democrats implicit their relation successful planetary warming. Puccio’s ascent into national lobbying came conscionable earlier Manchin diluted, oregon jettisoned, immoderate of the strongest provisions Biden’s allies had projected to trim the powerfulness sector’s greenhouse state emissions.

When asked if helium and Puccio had discussed definite details of the clime and vigor bills, Manchin said, “He’s an unconditional friend, and I speech to each my unconditional friends.”

It’s been that mode for a half-century.

In the beginning, Manchin, past successful his 20s, was a erstwhile precocious schoolhouse shot prima and heir to a Marion County governmental dynasty. Puccio was a wavy-haired teen who came up to Manchin’s shoulder.

They grew adjacent successful the 1980s, erstwhile Manchin had a carpet concern successful a Fairmont portion mall, wherever Puccio sold organs. Both of their businesses yet failed.

But Manchin would soon ascend successful authorities authorities — and successful the backstage sector, arsenic an proprietor of a ember transport company.

Puccio was astatine his broadside arsenic a friend, an advisor and past a lobbyist.

Some telephone him a “Manchin whisperer.”

“There’s a batch of radical who request Larry to evidently person an successful with Joe,” said Roman Prezioso, a erstwhile Democratic authorities legislator and lifelong person of Manchin who grew up down the roadworthy from him successful Marion County. “If you got an ace, you got to play it, and it’s made him very, precise rich, and he’s been capable to prime up a batch of clients.”

Puccio’s occurrence accelerated successful 2021, erstwhile Manchin was sworn successful arsenic seat of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Puccio began rostering national vigor clients wrong weeks of Manchin taking the gavel.

Since then, Manchin’s legislative enactment has stood to payment Puccio’s clients. That includes provisions successful 2 of Biden’s awesome achievements, this year’s Inflation Reduction Act and past year’s bipartisan infrastructure law. Manchin was a cardinal designer of some measures.

The laws incorporate billions of dollars for plugging methane leaks, capping abandoned lipid and state wells, constructing hydrogen facilities powered by earthy state and gathering c seizure facilities.

Beyond that was Manchin’s explicit information that the Mountain Valley pipeline, a contentious earthy state project, indispensable beryllium completed successful speech for his ballot connected large clime legislation.

Puccio’s biggest lawsuit is simply a cardinal beneficiary of the imaginable pipeline — a radical of vigor companies called the Appalachian Natural Gas Operators Coalition. The radical has paid Puccio’s steadfast astatine slightest $405,000 since July 2021, according to national lobbying records.

In September, amid crisp absorption from some Democratic and Republican senators, Manchin withdrew a measure that would person forced national agencies to licence the pipeline. But helium vowed to revive the issue.

‘Energy companies begging him’

Before each that, successful the months earlier the flurry of legislative enactment that began successful 2021, Puccio positioned himself arsenic a span betwixt the vigor satellite and Manchin.

“He said helium had vigor companies begging him to unfastened an bureau successful D.C. due to the fact that helium had entree to Joe, and that made it easier for him to bash concern determination than successful West Virginia,” said Scott Sears, a erstwhile Manchin advisor and a past enforcement manager of the West Virginia Democratic Party who has been friends with Puccio for decades. “He said it was due to the fact that of everything Joe was doing arsenic seat of the vigor committee.”

The wealth has poured in, earning Puccio astatine slightest $766,000 since January 2021, national lobbying records show.

At the aforesaid time, Manchin was taking steps to beforehand the Mountain Valley pipeline, which would transportation earthy state from West Virginia to Virginia. A memo helium drafted for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer spelled retired Manchin’s conditions for supporting the clime bill, which Congress passed successful August. The list of demands includes this request astatine the end: “Complete the Mountain Valley Pipeline.”

Manchin has supported the task for years, but the memo — and the pipeline’s aboriginal inclusion successful his failed vigor permitting measure — coincided with Puccio’s enlargement into national lobbying.

Puccio said successful a little interrogation that helium has not personally lobbied connected the pipeline.

“I person not worked connected that contented of the pipeline astatine all,” helium said.

However, companies that marque up his biggest lawsuit — the Appalachian Natural Gas Operators Coalition — would either physique the pipeline, transport state done it oregon usage the pipeline to warrant drilling further state wells. Puccio is listed arsenic a lobbyist for the coalition, federal records show.

The conjugation includes Equitrans Midstream Corp., which is playing a starring relation successful the pipeline’s construction. It besides includes NextEra Energy, a inferior elephantine and a spouse connected the pipeline, and Pittsburgh-based EQT Corp., which would usage the tube to vessel earthy gas.

Other companies belonging to the conjugation — Cabot Oil and Gas and Diversified Energy Co. — could payment from accrued state accumulation successful the region.

None of the companies progressive successful the Appalachian Natural Gas Operators Coalition responded to requests for comment.

Friendship and politics

Puccio has been astatine Manchin’s broadside during each measurement of his emergence done West Virginia politics, from the authorities legislature to caput of authorities to politician and past the U.S. Senate.

He has served arsenic Manchin’s run manager, the caput of his governmental enactment committee and person of the authorities Democratic Party.

Neither antheral wanted to talk astir their narration oregon whether it was helping Puccio power national argumentation connected behalf of his clients.

“I don’t deliberation I request to beryllium explaining to you what I bash with my clients. You’ve asked maine a question and I’ve answered, and that’s arsenic overmuch arsenic I person to say,” Puccio said successful a little telephone interrogation recently. “You’re asking maine astir my backstage concern and what I do, and I don’t deliberation that’s appropriate.”

Manchin besides declined to reply questions astir whether his relationship with Puccio has influenced his actions. But Manchin did not contradict helium had talked to Puccio astir the pipeline.

“I’ve known him since helium was a child,” Manchin said in September successful the Capitol. “We person a large relationship.”

Puccio’s past authoritative relation with Manchin was arsenic his main of staff, the apical occupation successful the governor’s office. He discontinue successful 2010. Days later, helium became a lobbyist for hotels and vigor companies that wanted entree to the astir almighty person successful Charleston.

His accelerated displacement from elder authorities advisor to lobbyist alarmed authorities lawmakers, who passed a instrumentality requiring a one-year “cooling off” play for officials who wanted to go lobbyists.

One of Puccio’s archetypal clients successful 2010 was Allegheny Energy, which merged with FirstEnergy Corp. the pursuing year. FirstEnergy, 1 of the nation’s largest electrical utilities, has been a Puccio lawsuit ever since.

The inferior has different transportation to Manchin: Its subsidiary Mon Power buys energy from a West Virginia powerfulness works that is the largest lawsuit of Manchin’s household ember business, Enersystems.

That has created a triangle of connections that blur Manchin’s governmental and concern interests: The Manchin household institution delivers ember to the plant, which sells powerfulness to FirstEnergy, which employs Puccio to lobby lawmakers.

Since 2010, Manchin has earned much than $5 cardinal from Enersystems, his family’s business. The institution transports discarded ember to Grant Town, the lone works successful West Virginia that inactive burns the slurry of cast-off ember and stone trucked by Enersystems from a closed excavation nearby. Enersystems is tally by Manchin’s son, Joe Manchin IV.

E&E News has antecedently reported that Puccio helped negociate a woody betwixt Mon Power and the owners of the Grant Town powerfulness works successful 2006. The statement hiked the plant’s powerfulness rates connected customers and extended Mon Power’s committedness to merchantability the plant’s energy by six years, offering a lifeline to the financially distressed ember plant.

The woody was approved by the state’s nationalist work commission, which was led astatine the clip by a Manchin appointee.

A tangle of lobbying clients

Puccio’s caller enlargement into national lobbying comes years aft helium built 1 of West Virginia’s astir palmy lobbying firms. He continues to correspond 27 clients successful West Virginia, state lobbying disclosures show. They see the household businesses of Republican Gov. Jim Justice, specified arsenic the Greenbrier edifice and the ember institution Bluestone Resources.

As helium did with Manchin, Puccio has worked arsenic a elder run advisor for Justice, adjacent though it meant turning his backmost connected his longtime Democratic roots.

It’s unclear however overmuch wealth Puccio has received from his West Virginia clients, due to the fact that authorities instrumentality doesn’t necessitate companies to disclose their lobbying payments.

In Washington, Puccio’s worth arsenic a lobbyist mostly relies connected his narration with Manchin, said Mike McKenna, a longtime vigor lobbyist who advised the Trump White House.

Because of that friendship, helium has immoderate value successful the insular ellipse of Washington lobbyists.

“But astir apt not arsenic overmuch arsenic helium thinks helium does,” McKenna said.

Still, galore of Puccio’s clients person seen imaginable windfalls of national wealth arsenic a effect of authorities that Manchin helped write, specified arsenic the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure instrumentality of past twelvemonth and the Inflation Reduction Act’s inclusion of $369 cardinal successful cleanable vigor spending.

One of his largest clients is Diversified Energy, which holds astir 70,000 lipid and state wells crossed the United States, a fig that exceeds Exxon Mobil Corp.’s wells. The institution is portion of the Appalachian Natural Gas Operators Coalition.

Diversified specializes successful acquiring dying wells, a strategy that tin prolong the beingness of lipid and state extraction sites wherever precocious levels of planet-warming methane often flight from manufacture equipment. The institution has precocious turned to different benignant of business: plugging methane leaks utilizing payer money.

Diversified stands to reap the benefits of $1.5 cardinal that was tucked into the Inflation Reduction Act to code leaking methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Additionally, the bipartisan infrastructure instrumentality included $4.7 cardinal to permanently headdress the boreholes of aging lipid and state wells.

Diversified besides pays Puccio to lobby astatine the authorities level, according to West Virginia ethics filings.

The company’s main executive, Rusty Hutson Jr., was named vice seat of the committee of governors for Fairmont State University successful 2020. The assemblage is besides a Puccio client, nationalist records show. Puccio’s lad Jay Puccio, an security salesman, besides sits connected the board. Another son, Larry Puccio II, was hired by FirstEnergy, a longtime lawsuit of Puccio.

A version of this story archetypal ran successful E&E News’ Climatewire. Get entree to much broad and in-depth reporting connected the vigor transition, earthy resources, clime alteration and much successful POLITICO’s E&E News.