3 days ago
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.
