Joe Linus: Shapiro puts energy consumers at risk
Governor Shapiro proudly announced on June 9 that Amazon would be investing $20 billion in Pennsylvania to build state-of-the art data centers creating more than 1,200 jobs. One of the data centers will be located here in Bucks County. Shapiro’s announcement said, “This initial investment from Amazon will create thousands of good-paying, stable jobs as Pennsylvania workers build, maintain, and operate the first two data-center campuses in Luzerne County and Bucks County.” Sounds like good news for Bucks County and Pennsylvanians. Not so fast.
Yes, the Amazon investment is good for jobs and expands Pennsylvania’s economy but may not be good for consumers. What the governor didn’t announce is that on June 1 energy costs for all Pennsylvanians went up again by double digits. With permission of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, utility companies increased rates based on demand. PECO customers will see a 12.6-percent increase and PPL customers a 16-percent increase.
So what does that have to do with the Amazon deal? Data centers consume enormous amounts of energy, forcing the Keystone State’s 2.8 million residential customers to compete with industries like Amazon for energy further driving up the cost. Even without the new influx of data centers, electricity costs are rising in Pennsylvania because of Shapiro’s policies.
Pennsylvanians already feel they are paying too much for energy. According to the Harrisburg-based Commonwealth Foundation, 78 percent of Pennsylvanians report experiencing increased energy bills over the past two years, and 76 percent worry about the future availability of affordable energy within the state. And now the cost is going up again. Residents, especially those on fixed incomes, worry what will happen going forward.
There is good reason to be worried. Industries like Amazon and manufacturing are drawn to Pennsylvania because of readily available natural gas and coal energy. That’s the good news which we should celebrate. Job creation and growing Pennsylvania’s economy should be Shapiro’s priority. But not at the expense of residential consumers. Shapiro’s energy policies put potential industrial and residential customers at risk of further cost increases.
Pennsylvania is ranked as the fourteenth most expensive state when it comes to energy costs. Pennsylvania has more natural gas than any other state except Texas, yet we are one of the highest-cost states for energy. Texas ranks 47th overall. Why aren’t we closer to Texas in the rankings? Industry and consumers should both benefit from Pennsylvania’s energy abundance.
The problem lies in Shapiro’s energy policies which favor carbon taxes, costly unreliable wind and solar production, and restrictive regulations which make doing business in Pennsylvania very expensive. Investing in expensive wind and solar power puts the entire system at risk of failure and will lead to future cost increases. Amazon data centers and industrial uses require huge amounts of reliable electricity to operate. Shapiro’s wind and solar plan requires consumers to choose between high costs or reduced usage. He’s not being honest with Pennsylvania residents.
Pennsylvania’s Republican controlled Senate passed with bipartisan support a bill to reject the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). Good news. But Shapiro is fighting back. RGGI is a multi-state cap-and-trade program favored by Shapiro that imposes a carbon tax on power generators. The pact threatens grid reliability and undermines reliable energy production. RGGI will saddle consumers and business with higher utility bills. Shapiro’s now appealing a court order that struck down RGGI which he wants to enforce without legislative approval.
He says he has a plan. He calls it the Lightning Plan. A close look at his plan reveals it is dependent on wind and solar, heavily emphasizes reduced consumption, and increases penalties on so-called polluters. He says his approach will reduce regulation and cut taxes, but those reductions only apply to wind and solar. Large-scale solar generating farms connected to the grid produce electricity costing seven times more than electricity produced in reliable natural gas plants.
Meanwhile, pollsters recently asked Pennsylvanians how much of their own money they were willing to spend to fight climate change. The majority said “zero”; 63 percent of Pennsylvanians are unwilling to personally spend any money to combat climate change and 65 percent say they are already concerned about paying for their energy needs. And 77 percent support expanding natural gas infrastructure in Pennsylvania to lower energy costs.
Pennsylvania is blessed with enormous proven reserves of energy. The Pennsylvania General Assembly and Shapiro need to stop pandering to partisan climate alarmists and reduce burdensome regulations that do little to improve the environment or lessen climate change. Reducing regulations allowing expansion of energy production using clean-burning natural gas and nuclear power as well as reducing the hidden taxes of high energy costs will expand industry, lower consumer costs, and make Pennsylvania the envy of our country.
Don’t be fooled by Shapiro’s smoke and mirrors. On the one hand, he applauds, as he should, new business initiatives that expand the economy and job growth, but on the other he fights against expanding reliable, inexpensive, clean natural gas and nuclear energy, favoring unreliable expensive wind and solar, forcing industry and consumers to pay more for the energy they need.
Joe Linus is a retired industrial plant engineer and technology contracts administrator for Fortune 500 companies living in Washington Crossing.
