Pennsylvania Energy Returns to the National Spotlight—No Thanks to Governor Shapiro

Yesterday, lawmakers and business executives convened in Pittsburgh to celebrate Pennsylvania’s bright future—all thanks to the commonwealth’s robust energy sector.

The event, titled the “Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit,” brought prominent political and business leaders to Carnegie Mellon University. Such political figures included U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick (who hosted and organized the event), Pennsylvania Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, and President Donald Trump.

Attendees also included representatives from more than 60 big-ticket companies, such as Facebook, Microsoft, and ExxonMobil—some of which have invested upwards of $92 million in Pennsylvania.

“Not since the days of Andrew Carnegie has there been as much economic power in one Pittsburgh room,” writes Brandon McGinley in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Gov. Josh Shapiro, a late addition to the event, also spoke at the summit. 

However, if there was one man who embodies all that’s wrong with Pennsylvania energy policy, it would be the governor:

• Shapiro appealed the court decision that ruled that the carbon tax imposed by the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) was unconstitutional. Analysis by Power PA Jobs indicates that the RGGI tax will increase Pennsylvania electricity costs by 30 percent.
• The governor’s comprehensive energy plan—dubbed the “Lightning Plan”—is nothing more than his version of the Green New Deal, chock-full of expensive subsidies and handouts to the renewables industry. Two of the biggest components of his energy plan—the Pennsylvania Climate Emissions Reduction Act (PACER) and the Pennsylvania Reliable Energy Sustainability Standard (PRESS)—would result in an additional $157 billion in new electricity costs for Pennsylvanians over the next 10 years.
• He overhypes other energy sources, such as hydrogen hubs, which provide neither well-paying jobs nor reliable energy. In fact, 96 percent of hydrogen production relies on natural gas, coal, and oil. The only thing these projects provide is publicity for our attention-starved governor.
• He didn’t lift a finger to fight against federal overreach, such as President Joe Biden’s ban on liquified natural gas or the EPA’s Clean Power Plant rule—both of which significantly damaged Pennsylvania’s energy sector and compromised the reliability of our grid. Fortunately, these disastrous policies no longer hamper Pennsylvania, thanks to Trump reversing them during his first weeks in office. (Meanwhile, Shapiro has found the time to file one lawsuit after another against the Trump administration.)

If the governor is genuinely interested in empowering Pennsylvania’s energy sector, he had better rethink his policies and priorities. Instead, Shapiro must prioritize the following:

• Abandon all carbon tax plans and renewable-energy mandates. No more RGGI, PACER, PRESS, or any other alphabet-soup concoction that only increases energy costs and sends those added expenses down the line to ratepayers.
• Adopt broad-based regulatory reforms. Pennsylvania is home to more than 160,000 regulations. To make the commonwealth competitive, lawmakers must advance policies like the REINS Act, which would require elected officials—not unelected bureaucrats—to review and approve regulations with significant economic ramifications. Research suggests that eliminating a third of Pennsylvania’s regulations would create about 180,000 new jobs and grow the state’s economy by $9.2 billion.
• Expedite permitting. Brendan Bechtel, chairman and CEO of Bechtel, shared that about $1 trillion in capital investment is currently tied up in federal permitting. “That is money that if it could get out of that process sooner in a clearer, more predictable way, it would hit the economy right now,” said Bechtel. In Pennsylvania, businesses continue to struggle with the rigmarole of the state’s notoriously obtuse permitting process. It’s so bad that it scares businesses away from Pennsylvania. Moreover, these reforms must be universal and applicable to all business sectors. Lawmakers must avoid the governor’s piecemeal approach that picks winners and losers in specific sectors. “That should not be something that is just for some companies,” said Sen. Kim Ward. “It needs to be across the board.”
• Focus on reliability and affordability. Rather than prioritizing the “existential threat of climate change,” lawmakers should prioritize energy sources that provide consistent, cost-effective electricity—not sources that require favorable weather conditions and billions in government subsidies.

These policies enjoy widespread support from Pennsylvanians.

Polling by the Commonwealth Foundation found that two-thirds of Pennsylvanians believe energy affordability should be a higher priority than combating climate change. An overwhelming majority—85 percent—want lawmakers to work together and reduce regulations that stifle Pennsylvania’s energy sector. Pennsylvanians are eager for lawmakers to unleash the commonwealth’s energy sector and make it a core component of American energy dominance.

Energy is Pennsylvania’s comparative advantage. “We have it all here,” said Ward, highlighting the commonwealth’s “wonderful natural resources.” She continued: “We have to stop demonizing those [resources]. We have to use them.”

Pennsylvania’s energy sector is what will fully revitalize the commonwealth—so long as Shapiro (and the environmental lobbyists who fund his campaigns) get out of the way.

Recommended Reading:

• A New Vision for Energy: Pennsylvania Leading the Way for American Energy Security and Prosperity
• Preventing Pennsylvania from Powering Down: Analysis of Governor Shapiro’s PACER and PRESS Proposals
• Shapiro’s Lights Out Agenda
• New Poll: Pennsylvanians Demand Energy Affordability
• State of RGGI: Past, Present, and Future