Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro unveiled his multi-pronged energy plan this past week. Republicans said it is dead on arrival.
The Democrat governor and House Republicans are wrangling over taking “real action to address climate change,” protecting and creating energy jobs, and ensuring reliable, affordable power.
Part of Mr. Shapiro’s plan is the Pennsylvania Climate Emissions Reduction (PACER) Act, which would create Pennsylvania’s own “carbon cap and invest” program. It is similar to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), which caps fossil fuel power that companies can produce before having to buy a costly permit or trading credits.
The permit cost is passed on to consumers. RGGI has a regional cap across 11 states. PACER would create a power production cap just for Pennsylvania. If the Legislature passes PACER, Gov. Shapiro says, he will remove Pennsylvania from RGGI.
Thanks to fracking, Pennsylvania is a major energy exporter with 30 percent of its energy produced going to other states.
“That presents a unique opportunity for us and my plan takes advantage of that, to invest the money that we generate here back into the good people of Pennsylvania,” Mr. Shapiro said.
“Because the first thing we’re going to do under PACER is give every Pennsylvanian an electric bill rebate so no one pays more, and many people pay less, on their electric bills.”
In addition, money raised would be given to large energy-producing facilities and the state would give money to “clean energy efficiency initiatives for homes and small businesses all across Pennsylvania to help them lower their electric costs even further.”
“I can say with confidence that this proposal as written, is dead on arrival with the House Republican caucus,” House Republican Whip Rep. Tim O’Neal said in a March 18 press conference in Harrisburg.
“Gov. Shapiro’s energy policy is nothing but a government money grab and an indirect attack on job creators and workers across Pennsylvania.”
He called the plan a tax on energy production that will be passed on to consumers.
“This plan would even empower the Department of Environmental Protection to run the program, effectively allowing unelected bureaucrats the ability to set the new tax rate. So the governor is asking us to pass a tax increase on Pennsylvanians without even knowing what that increase is,” Mr. O’Neal said.
Grid Reliability
Another part of Gov. Shapiro’s plan includes the Pennsylvania Reliable Energy Sustainable Standards (PRESS) Act that would require electric distribution companies to buy 35 percent of the electricity they sell from renewable sources, by means of alternative energy credits within 11 years, that is, by 2035.PJM is the regional grid operator that coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity in all or parts of 13 states and the District of Columbia. It covers all of Pennsylvania.
More than 65 million people are served by PJM across nearly 369,000 square miles.
In 2023, 6.9 percent of the generation mix within PJM came from renewable sources.
Renewables are solar, wind, and hybrids of battery storage co-located with renewables, primarily solar. But they are less reliable. Solar does not work at night, and windmills don’t generate power when the air is still.
More renewable megawatts, about 3 to 1, are needed to replace retiring fossil fuels to maintain reliability, The Epoch Times previously reported.
Most electricity came to PJM in 2023 from fossil fuels. The mix was 44.3 percent gas, 33.6 percent nuclear, and 14.9 percent coal. In just 11 years, Gov. Shapiro aims for renewables to outpace coal more than two times.
“PJM continues to be concerned about maintaining grid reliability as demand increases and supply decreases during this energy transition. We look forward to continued dialogue with all of our lawmakers in Pennsylvania to ensure a reliable energy transition,” a PJM spokesman said.
In recent years, coal, oil, gas, and nuclear power generators have been retiring rapidly due to government and private sector policies, as well as economics, a PJM report released last year said.
Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Pennsylvania shut down in 2019. Pennsylvania’s largest coal-fired power plant, the Homer City Generating Station, closed in July 2023.
Conemaugh Generating Station and Keystone Generating Station, both coal-fired Pennsylvania electric generators, are slated for closure by 2028. And Brandon Shores power plant near Baltimore seeks to close in 2025.
“There is room in our Commonwealth for all types of energy. We should incorporate the different energy sectors but not on the backs of ratepayers, which is what Shapiro’s proposal does,” Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward said in a statement following the governor’s announcement.
“Our Commonwealth needs to be focused on unleashing our energy potential, not taxing it. Doing so would create thousands of good jobs and keep our power grid secure. Shapiro’s carbon tax proposal appears to be more aligned with states like California and Washington, which suffer from rolling blackouts and higher energy prices,” the Republican leader said.
“Shapiro says if his proposal is passed, he will drop the lawsuit that is keeping RGGI alive and consumer electric bills high. We have already been on the other end of a deal with Shapiro during last year’s budget so the old saying ‘fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me,’ applies.”
Ms. Ward called on Mr. Shapiro to drop the lawsuit that keeps RGGI in place.
The Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Association (PIOGA) said the plan needs to be scrutinized fully by the legislature.
“PIOGA appreciates the fact that Gov. Josh Shapiro recognized that joining RGGI would be detrimental to Pennsylvania’s economy by killing good-paying energy jobs and increasing costs for energy consumers, while not guaranteeing benefits to Pennsylvania’s air quality,” Daniel Weaver, PIOGA president and executive director told The Epoch Times in a statement.
“But the cap-and-trade approach—while non-specific in the details for implementation—follows the same path as RGGI, of driving up energy bills for individuals, families, and businesses with a completely uncertain promise at the other end that those cost increases will be returned to them through fees paid by energy producers. It takes money out of one pocket with no guarantee it will come back.”
In a survey released on March 19 by the Commonwealth Foundation, a right-leaning, Pennsylvania-based think tank, 80 percent of voters said their household energy bills have increased over the past two years, with 70 percent saying they’re concerned about affording their family’s energy needs.
Energy affordability remains a top priority ahead of the November election, with 81 percent describing it as an important factor in deciding which candidates to support, the survey said.
Notably, 67 percent of Pennsylvanians are unwilling to pay any money out-of-pocket to combat climate change, and 54 percent oppose President Joe Biden’s “pause” on additional liquified natural gas imports.
And, the survey says, 70 percent support Pennsylvania building more pipelines to transport natural gas to homes and businesses to ease the strain on the electrical grid and reduce energy costs.
