A new report by The Commonwealth Foundation says several elements of the state’s renewable energy policy have already cost the state’s electricity consumers more than three billion dollars since 2020, and their expansion in Governor Shapiro’s so-called “Lightning Plan” could double electricity bills by 2035.
The Lightning Plan, as defined by the governor, was proposed last year as his “all of the above” approach to energy, coming in the wake of the court-ordered rejection of RGGI, Pennsylvania’s forced enrollment in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative by former Governor Tom Wolf.
Embodied in a piece of legislation called the Pennsylvania Reliable Energy Sustainability Standard proposal (“PRESS”), the new mandates would expand the current Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act. Shapiro claims electricity customers would save around $664 million by 2040, but the Commonwealth Foundation says its analysis shows consumers are already paying 60 to 85 percent above wholesale for renewable energy and would pay $155 million more on top of that.
Further, the report shows that renewables have done nothing to change the ratio of fossil fuel generation in the state, asserting that any emissions improvements have come from the retirement of coal generation of electricity.
In a separate article, the Commonwealth Foundation asks, “…why is your electricity bill so high? Excessive government intervention-that’s why.”
RESOURCES:
https://commonwealthfoundation.org/blog/why-is-your-electricity-bill-so-high/
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