Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) announced a package of six bills that will be introduced next week to enact his Lightning Plan to boost electricity generation, lower consumer costs and create jobs.
“It’s critical for us to be competitive, to create jobs and create more clean energy sources,” Shapiro said at a press conference in York on Tuesday. “This is a common sense energy policy that folks can get behind.”
The announcement follows the release Tuesday of six so-called cosponsorship memos in each chamber from lawmakers announcing their intent to introduce individual pieces of the package.
Of the six bills, only one has Republican support so far. That measure would revamp the PA EDGE tax credit, which Shapiro said was too restrictive and has not been used. The measure would provide up to $100 million per facility for three years.
“This all-of-the-above reliable energy tax credit — the first in the nation at the state level — will enable a wider range of reliable and advanced energy projects to qualify,” said the legislation’s House memo, which was signed by Reps. John Inglis (D), Robert Matzie (D) and Thomas Mehaffie (R).
Republican support will be needed in the Senate, where the GOP has a 27-22 majority. The House is currently tied at 101. A special election that will break the tie is set for March 25.
Senate Republican leaders have been critical of Shapiro’s Lightning Plan and are concerned that it would raise energy costs.
Part of their displeasure also concerns a lawsuit over whether the state can withdraw from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a cooperative effort among 11 Eastern states focused on reducing carbon emissions from power plants.
Pennsylvania sought to join the interstate initiative in 2022 under a 2019 executive order issued by then-Gov. Tom Wolf (D). But opponents, including Republicans, power producers and coal mine owners, sued to prevent the state from joining. That case is now before the state Supreme Court. The Senate passed a bill last month that would take the state out of the initiative.
One of the bills in Shapiro’s package would sidestep the court case. The Pennsylvania Climate Emissions Reduction Act would establish a Pennsylvania-specific cap-and-invest program, allowing the state to determine its carbon cap and to invest directly in lowering consumers’ electricity bills.
“The Lightning Plan would take the pace of the need to be in RGGI,” Shapiro said. “I’ve heard some people on the other side of the aisle … attacking me politically. … They all tell me how much they don’t like RGGI. I said, ‘Well … here’s a better way forward that we can work on together.”
Another bill would establish the Pennsylvania Reliable Energy Sustainability Standard. The measure’s previous iteration would have updated the state’s 20-year-old alternative energy portfolio standard and require the state to get 35% of electricity from sources deemed clean by 2035.
A fourth measure would create the Pennsylvania Reliable Energy Siting and Electric Transition Board, creating a central authority to consider and approve applications for large, reliable energy-generating facilities. Eligible projects include reliable-energy facilities that provide more than 25 megawatts of power.
Shapiro said Pennsylvania is one of only 12 states that does not have such a board.
“It’s time we catch up, and it’s time we move more quickly to get shovels in the ground and generate energy,” Shapiro said.
The last two bills would update efficiency standards and allow communities to band together to share energy resources.
Shapiro warned that not acting on his energy initiative would lead to higher electricity costs and run the risk of the state losing out in the race with other states to attract business, create jobs, and grow the state’s economy.
“By choosing to do nothing, as some would have us do, they are choosing to be less competitive,” Shapiro said. “I am competitive as hell. I want to win every game. I want to win this battle for energy dominance in the United States and across the globe and now is the time to act.”