Pennsylvania’s Energy Dilemma | News, Sports, Jobs

What can Pennsylvania lawmakers do about a looming regional power shortage they did not cause and cannot easily fix? This dilemma is the most important energy issue facing the commonwealth.

PJM Interconnection — the company that manages the regional electric grid serving 13 states and the District of Columbia — issued a report last year warning that, at current trends, there may not be enough generating capacity to keep the lights on until 2028 or 2030. The problem stems from a combination of circumstances. First, demand for electricity is rising because of the proliferation of electric vehicles and data centers that power artificial intelligence.

At the same time, coal- and gas-fired power plants, the workhorses of the grid, are retiring prematurely because of climate policies in some states (not Pennsylvania) and the federal government that discourage or ban fossil-fuel plants and favor renewable energy. As a result, PJM’s interconnection pipeline now consists almost entirely of renewable energy and battery projects. These technologies alone cannot replace the reliability of plants that can operate around the clock.

Pennsylvania’s energy policy has not caused this problem. We generate more electricity than any other state in PJM and have not forced the closure of gas and coal-fired plants. Our demand for renewable energy is modest—8% of the electricity we use—which should be enough to launch these technologies in a market that was supposed to be free.

What can Pennsylvania lawmakers do to avoid a supply shortage? The best solution would be for other states and the federal government to relax their climate policies in order to maintain a reliable electricity supply. But Pennsylvania lawmakers can’t control those decisions, and those other jurisdictions show no signs of changing course.

Given this reality, any solution that Pennsylvania lawmakers seek will be worse. Since the restructuring of the Pennsylvania electric industry more than two decades ago, we have relied on incentives in PJM wholesale markets to ensure that enough power plants are built to guarantee an adequate supply of electricity. That worked until recently, but now we face the prospect that these markets have been damaged and can no longer be relied upon to provide adequate supplies. To keep the lights on, unfortunately, it may be necessary for the government to intervene in the market to support plants capable of operating 24/7 to offset mandates and subsidies given to renewable energy.

As this problem is studied and solutions are discussed, each piece of energy legislation in the General Assembly should be evaluated for how it affects the problem of premature retirement of power plants and maintaining a reliable supply of electricity. The first law of holes is: If you find yourself in one, stop digging.

Terry Fitzpatrick is president and CEO of the Energy Association of PA and former chairman of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.

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