Latest news with #HouseBill501
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Shaprio's renewable energy plan advances as Trump administration keeps Pa. fossil fuel plant online
The Blue Creek wind farm in Ohio, consists of 152 wind turbines with a total capacity of 304 megawatts. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has finalized new rules that are expected to help ease the backlog of new wind, solar and battery storage projects awaiting regulatory approval. (Robert Zullo/ States Newsroom) Days before Pennsylvania lawmakers advanced Gov. Josh Shapiro's plan to expand the commonwealth's renewable energy resources, the Trump administration ordered a fossil fuel-fired power plant outside Philadelphia to keep running past its planned retirement date. The U.S. Department of Energy on Friday ordered Pennsylvania's electricity grid operator PJM Interconnect and owner Constellation Energy to keep the Eddystone Generating Station in Delaware County ready to meet peak power demands. It was scheduled to cease operations Saturday. The order highlights challenges facing Pennsylvania policymakers as they work to ensure there's enough electricity for industry and residents while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Legislation that would set a more ambitious goal for renewable energy production in what Shapiro describes as an all-of-the-above approach to meeting demand passed a state House committee on Monday. House Bill 501 would enact the Pennsylvania Reliability Energy Sustainability Standard (PRESS), which is part of Shapiro's broader energy policy dubbed the Lightning Plan. It would require 35% of the state's energy to come from clean sources including solar, wind, nuclear and other emerging technologies by 2040. Other aspects of the plan would provide tax credits for renewable energy development and establish a dedicated board to streamline energy permitting to incentivize developers to prioritize clean energy. While President Donald Trump has backed the oil, gas and coal industries since he campaigned for his first term in 2016, the DOE order to keep the Eddystone Generating Station online cited an 'emergency situation' as PJM warned that electricity demand in the 13 states it serves could soon outpace the opening of new power plants. PJM projects its peak demand will grow by about 70,000 megawatts to 220,000 megawatts by 2040. The growth is being driven by the increased electrification of transportation and industry and the proliferation of data centers to satisfy the demand for computing power from artificial intelligence and other technologies. PJM's process to authorize new power plants to connect to the grid faces a backlog including hundreds of gigawatts of renewable energy while about 20% of its existing generating capacity is expected to retire in the next five years. Starting this month, consumers in Pennsylvania and the rest of PJM's footprint will see electric bills increase by 10% to 20% as a result of soaring prices in last July's capacity auction, in which electricity generators bid to provide generating capacity. Pennsylvania, meanwhile, lags behind most of the nation in renewable energy development. An analysis of federal energy data by PennEnvironment put the commonwealth behind all but Washington and Alaska, which tied for last place. Debate on the renewable energy legislation Monday in the House Environmental and Natural Resources Committee demonstrated the tension between Pennsylvania's energy future and its past. Republicans argued the goal of obtaining 35% of the state's energy from clean sources by 2035 is unrealistic. Natural gas and coal provide reliable electricity while helping to drive Pennsylvania's economy, they said. Rep. Tim Twardzik (R-Schuylkill) said renewable energy sources including solar and wind power would take up too much land. And subsidizing them at the expense of established fossil fuel sources would hurt workers and consumers by taking away jobs and increasing prices. 'It's just going to waste money and not solve our problems,' Twardzik said. Democrats said diversifying the state's energy portfolio is essential to staving off an energy crisis. 'We are at a crossroads,' Rep. Chris Pielli (D-Chester) said. 'I think that we should be looking at many forms of energy, nuclear, geothermal, and even using our gas and our oil.' Pielli rebutted claims by Republicans that the renewable energy legislation would create winners and losers. He argued Pennsylvania's gas industry benefitted from a subsidy when lawmakers chose not to impose an excise tax on gas production, forgoing billions in revenue. Deeply conservative Texas, Pielli noted, leads the nation in both natural gas production, wind and solar energy. 'Let's look at that … recognizing that this bill is an opportunity that we can fine tune, where we can use any and all of these resources to protect our consumers going forward when it comes to our power,' he said.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senate panel to consider bill that hands Georgia lawmakers more say over State Election Board
Conservative Georgia State Election Board member Janelle King, second from left, voted Sept. 23 to have election board Executive Director Mike Coan. second from right, to look into the claims that led to the DeKalb County Republican Party alleging that several county election board's are not following the law for reviewing voter eligibility complaints. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder (file photo) A last-minute House election bill that advanced on Crossover Day last week would give new authority to the House speaker and Senate president to remove State Election Board members during the legislative offseason. If the Legislature approves the current version of House Bill 397, it would give the two chamber leaders powers to remove members from a board that was at the forefront of controversial election rulemaking in 2024. However, the architect behind the proposal for removing Georgia election board members, Atlanta Democratic Rep. Saira Draper, said she's not optimistic that the updated clause will remain in the final election bill expected to be crafted before the session ends April 4. On Feb. 18, Draper filed House Bill 501, which clarified state law by giving the House and Senate chamber leaders the same post-session authority to remove State Election Board members as they have to fill vacancies on the board. On Thursday, the House voted 159-13 in favor of a substitute passed out of the House Rules Committee that no longer included a provision that would give municipal election officials the choice to opt-out of advance voting for municipal elections on Saturdays. Draper said she believes the Republicans passed a HB 397 substitute that removed controversial Saturday voting language because the GOP leaders did not want to delay passing an election bill on the Crossover Day deadline for legislation to advance out of one chamber. Instead, they presented a measure that only included her proposal clarifying state law by giving House and Senate leaders the same ability to remove election board members as they currently have to appoint members while not in session. The provision would allow the House and Senate leaders to remove Georgia election officials that were selected by their respective chambers to fill a vacancy. 'I don't want to say I know this is going to happen, but my concern is (HB 397) is going to be used as a vehicle now to move whatever kind of election legislation they want to see,' Draper said. Draper said a number of her Democratic colleagues are in favor of finding other ways to reduce local election costs without cutting off access to Saturday voting. 'Democrats are very sympathetic to the idea that our election offices are struggling and have had over the years, a large number of costs thrust upon them,' she said. Covington Republican Rep. Tim Fleming's HB 397 is assigned to the Senate Ethics Committee, which has debated and passed key election bills over the past couple of years, including measures that would ban election officials from adopting an instant runoff system, a 2024 bill replacing the QR code that tabulates votes on paper ballots, and the controversial sweeping 2021 election law overhaul, Senate Bill 202. On Thursday evening as the clock ran out to advance bills on Crossover Day, Governmental Affairs Chairman Victor Anderson informed the House Rules Committee members about the last-minute changes to legislation that was intended to address critical procedural issues prior to the 2026 election. Anderson, a Cornelia Republican, said stripping down the bill was necessary to reach a consensus working with the Senate Ethics Committee to pass new election procedures this year so as not to 'put us in bind next year.' Natalie Crawford, executive director and founder of Georgia First, a nonprofit think tank and policy advocacy group, said her organization supports the election board removal procedure and the earlier provision giving municipal election officials the choice to opt-out of a Saturday voting day. The former Republican Habersham County Commissioner said her organization will continue monitoring proposals that the ethics committee could consider, including potentially new rules on the hand delivery on absentee ballots on and poll watcher access. 'We are great with the language as it is now. Obviously, we will be looking to see if there's any language that would potentially impede voting access,' Crawford said. 'Georgia First is pretty bullish that we do very well in Georgia with our elections. 'Now is probably a good time to kind of hold off on more legislative tinkering,' Crawford said. 'Let's get a good feel for what we have in place and allow confidence to be restored with voters without making any additional unnecessary changes Voting rights groups and lawmakers will also be watching to see if the final version of House Bill 397 expands the Senate president and House speaker's authority to remove State Election Board appointees while the Legislature is not in session. Last year, House Speaker Jon Burns and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who are both Republicans, appointed two conservative election board members ahead of the November election. In January, the Senate approved Jones' choice to have former state Sen. Rick Jeffares serve on the board. Following the session, Burns' appointed former Georgia Republican Party deputy director Janelle King to the election board that investigates county election administration. The reshaped election board continued a trend of holding marathon board meetings often dominated by pro-Donald Trump activists lodging accusations of voting fraud and other voting irregularities stemming from false claims about widespread fraud costing Trump the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. The board also faced lawsuits contending the three conservative members' rulemaking leading up to the Nov. 5 election was illegally usurping legislative authority. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill aims to hand powerful Georgia GOP lawmakers more say over makeup of State Election Board
Conservative Georgia State Election Board member Janelle King, second from left, voted Sept. 23 to have election board Executive Director Mike Coan. second from right, to look into the claims that led to the DeKalb County Republican Party alleging that several county election board's are not following the law for reviewing voter eligibility complaints. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder (file photo) A last-minute change to a House election bill that advanced on Crossover Day last week would give new authority to the House speaker and Senate president to remove State Election Board members during the legislative offseason. If the Legislature approves a final version of House Bill 397 giving the chamber leaders unilateral powers to remove board members, it would add a new layer in the power dynamics over a board that has been at the forefront of controversial election rulemaking since 2020. However, the architect behind the new proposal for removing Georgia election board members, Atlanta Democratic Rep. Saira Draper, said she's not optimistic that it will remain in the final version of the election bill expected to be crafted before the session ends April 4. On Feb. 18, Draper filed House Bill 501, which clarified state law by giving the House and Senate chamber leaders the same post-session authority to remove State Election Board members as they have to fill vacancies on the board. On Thursday, the House voted 159-13 in favor of a version passed out of the House Rules Committee that no longer included a provision that would give municipal election officials the choice to opt-out of advance voting for municipal elections on Saturdays. Draper said she believes the Republicans passed a HB 397 substitute that removed controversial Saturday voting language because the GOP leaders did not want to delay passing an election bill on the Crossover Day deadline for legislation to advance out of one chamber. Instead, they passed a measure that includes her proposal clarifying state law by giving House and Senate leaders the same ability to remove election board members as they currently have to appoint members while not in session. The provision would allow the House and Senate leaders to remove Georgia election officials that were selected by their respective chambers to fill a vacancy. 'I don't want to say I know this is going to happen, but my concern is it's going to be used as a vehicle now to move whatever kind of election legislation they want to see,' Draper said. Draper said her Democratic colleagues are in favor of finding other ways to reduce local election costs without cutting off access to Saturday voting. 'Democrats are very sympathetic to the idea that our election offices are struggling and have had over the years, a large number of costs thrust upon them,' she said. Covington Republican Rep. Tim Fleming's HB 397 is expected to be assigned to the Senate Ethics Committee, which has passed key election bills over the past couple of years, including measures that would ban election officials from adopting an instant runoff system, a 2024 bill replacing the QR code that tabulates votes on paper ballots, and the controversial sweeping 2021 election law overhaul, Senate Bill 202. On Thursday evening as the clock ran out to advance bills on Crossover Day, Governmental Affairs Chairman Victor Anderson informed the House Rules Committee members about the last-minute changes to legislation that was intended to address critical procedural issues prior to the 2026 election. Anderson, a Cornelia Republican, said stripping down the bill was necessary to reach a consensus working with the Senate Ethics Committee to pass new election procedures this year so as not to 'put us in bind next year.' Natalie Crawford, executive director and founder of Georgia First, a nonprofit think tank and policy advocacy group, said her organization supports the new election board removal procedure and the earlier provision giving municipal election officials the choice to opt-out of a Saturday voting day. She said her organization will continue monitoring proposals that the ethics committee could consider, including potentially new rules on the hand delivery on absentee ballots on and expanding poll watcher access. 'We are great with the language as it is now. Obviously, we will be looking to see if there's any language that would potentially impede voting access,' Crawford said. 'Georgia First is pretty bullish that we do very well in Georgia with our elections. 'Now is probably a good time to kind of hold off on more legislative tinkering,' Crawford said. 'Let's get a good feel for what we have in place and allow confidence to be restored with voters without making any additional unnecessary changes.' After months of rewriting rules, Georgia election board meets once more before November Voting rights groups and lawmakers will also be watching to see if the final version of House Bill 397 expands the Senate president and House speaker's authority to remove State Election Board appointees while the Legislature is not in session. Last year, House Speaker Jon Burns and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who are both Republicans, appointed two conservative election board members ahead of the November election. In January, the Senate approved Jones' choice to have former state Sen. Rick Jeffares serve on the board. In May, Burns' appointed former Georgia Republican Party deputy director Janelle King to the election board that investigates county election administration. The reshaped election board continued a trend of holding marathon board meetings often dominated by pro-Donald Trump activists lodging accusations of widespread voting fraud and other voting irregularities stemming from false claims about widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election. The board also faced lawsuits contending the three conservative members' rulemaking leading up to the Nov. 5 election was illegally usurping legislative authority. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
