PA Attorney General weighs in on Bucks climate case – Bucks Round-Up – April 24, 2026
PA Attorney General weighs in on Bucks climate case
A Bucks County lawsuit against several major oil companies and the American Petroleum Institute continues to make its way through the court system after its dismissal last year by a Bucks County judge. The county’s ruling is pending appeal in Commonwealth Court. But last week, on behalf of the commonwealth, State Attorney General David Sunday filed an amicus (or “friend of the court”) brief supporting the decision by Bucks County Court of Common Pleas Judge Stephen Corr to dismiss the county’s climate case. The state attorney general points out federal law supersedes conflicting state and county law and it is the federal government’s responsibility for addressing global emissions and problems emanating from them. Sunday also wrote that Bucks County’s climate lawsuit negatively impacts Pennsylvania, the second-largest natural gas producer in the U.S. after Texas, and the third largest coal-producing state after Wyoming and West Virginia. And because the energy sector employs hundreds of thousands of workers in Pennsylvania, it is integral to the commonwealth’s economy. Sunday also noted that there was no discussion prior to the county commissioners’ announcement at a public meeting that the county had filed a climate lawsuit against several major oil companies alleging they had deceived the public about the role fossil fuels play in worsening global warming. The lawsuit was filed on March 25, 2024, and initially supported by all three county commissioners: Democrats Diane Ellis-Marseglia and Bob Harvie, and Republican Gene DiGirolamo, notably one year after a torrential rainstorm and subsequent flash flooding that killed seven people in the county. The county lawsuit accused BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Phillips 66, Shell, and the American Petroleum Institute of leading ongoing campaigns to cover up their products’ environmental risks. And the suit cited severe weather events the county claimed were due to warming resulting from fossil fuel industry practices. The events included flooding that was allegedly worsened by rising tidal waters in the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. Harvie, then vice chair of the Board of Commissioners, said that some of the biggest companies in the world were deliberately engaged in deceptive business practices. The lawsuit sought monetary awards for storm damage repairs and stormwater management measures. The county was represented by the DiCello Levitt law firm with offices in New York and Washington, D.C.
PECO chief leaves after failed bid to raise customer rates
The head of PECO, David Vahos, is out after the utility backtracked on its proposal to increase customer rates and amid ongoing friction with the company’s largest union. PECO announced that Vahos, who took over as president and CEO last June, will transition to a role as “special advisor” to Calvin Butler, the president and CEO of PECO’s parent company, Chicago-based Exelon Corp. Mike Innocenzo, who previously served as PECO’s president and CEO, returns to temporarily fill the vacancy, according to a PECO statement. The leadership change coincides with a breakdown in labor negotiations. Approximately 1,500 employees represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 614 have been working without a contract for more than three weeks. PECO filed a proposal with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) seeking a 12.5-percent increase in electric rates and an 11.4-percent hike for natural gas on March 30. The proposal would have added an estimated $20.08 to the average monthly electric bill and $14.52 for the average natural gas bill, but it drew immediate, bipartisan objection, including from Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro.
Pat Wandling is a veteran journalist, formerly of The Bucks County Courier, and was a mainstay on WBCB for over 20 years.
