West Central PA News

The Pennsylvania Senate approved legislation today to repeal the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) carbon tax enacted through executive order by the Wolf Administration in 2019, according to Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R-39), Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R-41), Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Scott Martin (R-13), and Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee Chair Gene Yaw (R-23).

RGGI, a multi-state compact, would increase electricity rates for consumers, cut energy and manufacturing jobs, and lead to the closure of Pennsylvania power plants. No new investments in baseload generation have come to Pennsylvania in the five years since the Wolf Administration attempted to enter the state into RGGI.

Last year, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled that Pennsylvania’s entrance into RGGI may only be achieved through legislation duly enacted by the General Assembly, not merely through rulemaking promulgated by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Environmental Quality Board (EQB). This ruling has been appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court by Gov. Josh Shapiro, and that appeal remains pending.

Govs. Tom Wolf and Shapiro have faced sharp criticism for pushing Pennsylvania to participate in RGGI despite bipartisan objections from the General Assembly.

Senate Bill 1058, introduced by Yaw, will abrogate the CO2 Budget Trading Program regulation that was promulgated by DEP and EQB.

“Pennsylvania’s greatest asset is our ability to produce energy. Gov. Shapiro’s push for a carbon tax has already increased costs for Pennsylvania families who are already grappling with the rising costs of food and gas,” Ward said. “RGGI is an unnecessary carbon tax that would increase Pennsylvanians’ electric bills by 30%, eliminate 22,000 homegrown jobs and increase the cost of everyday products with no significant environmental benefit. Instead, our focus should be on unleashing our commonwealth’s energy potential to strengthen Pennsylvania’s economy now and for the future.”

“The RGGI Electricity Tax must be stopped. Even though the Commonwealth Court has ruled RGGI is unconstitutional, Gov. Shapiro has continued his push with the Supreme Court,” Pittman said. “If the RGGI Electricity Tax would go into effect, it would mean hundreds of millions of dollars of increases on electric bills, impacting every electricity consumer in this commonwealth. We must help families feeling the strain of inflation – not put more pressure on their household budgets.”

“We face tremendous challenges in the years ahead to ensure our electricity grid is reliable and energy is affordable for Pennsylvanians. RGGI makes it much harder for us to achieve both these goals,” Martin said. “The idea of Pennsylvania participating in this multi-state electricity tax scheme was wrong from the beginning, and it’s a mistake we need to remedy so our state can have a prosperous future.”

“Leaving our environmental and economic destiny to the whims of RGGI’s New England states is just bad policy for Pennsylvania when our electric power is distributed east and west in the PJM grid,” Yaw said. “It is time to repeal this regulation and focus on putting forth commonsense, environmentally responsible energy policy that recognizes and champions Pennsylvania as an energy producer.”

This legislation comes on the heels of a series of hearings with members of the Ohio General Assembly to discuss PJM and reliability of the mid-Atlantic power grid it manages. PJM projects that 20% of its existing capacity will retire between now and 2030, leaving them without sufficient power to meet consumers' demands.

Thermal generation retirements like those at Maryland's Brandon Shores power plant closure coupled with RGGI's threat further compromise electric grid integrity. Recently one Federal Energy Regulatory Commissioner (FERC) indicated such shutdowns could cause a "potentially catastrophic" scenario; however, recent FERC orders show concerns about regional power production are being addressed.

The bill now moves to the House of Representatives.

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