PA Environment Digest Blog: Inside Climate News: Shale Gas Was Supposed To Lower PA Electric Bills, Instead They’re Higher Than Ever And About To Get Worse

By Kiley Bense and Dan Gearino

The following article first appeared in Inside Climate News September 21, 2025 and is the first in a series about rising electricity prices in Pennsylvania--

In 2013, when the Appalachian fracking rush was still in its early days, then President Barack Obama extolled its benefits in his State of the Union address.

Not only had natural gas already helped to lower America’s carbon emissions, it could protect Americans from the fluctuations of the global oil market, Obama said. And there was one more important benefit: “Nearly everyone’s energy bill is lower because of it.”

Obama’s words echoed fracking’s champions in politics, business and government, who boasted that natural gas would save Americans money—perhaps nowhere more fervently than in Pennsylvania, the epicenter of the boom.

But the savings Obama and others touted were short-lived for many Pennsylvanians, followed by punishing increases that are on track to balloon even further as forecasts for demand skyrocket in the age of AI.

The result is a growing energy affordability crisis, a nightmare collision of higher utility bills, climate change and shrinking federal aid.

After state Republicans fielded “distressed calls from Pennsylvanians asking for an inquiry into rising energy prices,” the Pennsylvania House Republican Policy Committee held a hearing in 2023 to learn more about the reasons for a “dramatic increase in energy costs for residents and businesses.”

“With our immense resources, and our status as a net-energy exporter, one would think the People of PA would receive lower energy prices,” the committee wrote. “But this is not the case.”

If Pennsylvania is producing so much more gas, why are prices going up? Why aren’t its residents benefiting more from the resource beneath their feet?

Natural gas production in Pennsylvania more than doubled between 2013 and 2024, and consumption rose faster than in any other state.

The rise in natural gas consumption in Pennsylvania has largely been driven by electricity as coal power plants went offline.

Now close to 60 percent of the state’s electricity comes from gas, far above the national average.

Pennsylvania is awash in excess power, sending more electricity outside its borders than any other state and exporting, domestically and internationally, three-quarters of the gas it produces.

These shifts have not translated to lower costs for Pennsylvanians.

Comparing average household electricity prices from 2010 to 2024, residents here haven’t fared better than consumers in many states with little or no natural gas production.

After a period of stability, Pennsylvania electricity rates have soared since 2020.

The average household electricity bill in the state has risen 31 percent in that time, according to the Energy Information Administration, faster than the national average by six percentage points.

Some of the highest increases in Pennsylvania are in the southwest, the heart of fracking country, where residents often live in close proximity to wells and bear the heaviest health and environmental burdens caused by drilling.

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Resource Links - A.I. Data Centers:

-- Gov. Shapiro To Convene 13-State Summit Sept. 22 On Critical Changes Needed At PJM To Keep Energy Costs Low, Bring New Electricity To Grid, Serve Power Demands Of A.I. Data Centers [PaEN]

-- Team PA Releases PA Energy, Data Center, A.I. RoadMap, Includes ‘Aggressively Streamlining Permitting,' Establishing Regional Permitting Commissions [PaEN]

-- PUC Chairman: Model Tariff For Connecting A.I. Data Centers To Local Electric Grid To Be Published For Comment By End Of September [PaEN]

-- Guest Essay: Rewriting The Energy Story — Together - By Stephen M. DeFrank, Chairman, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission [PaEN]

-- NRDC: Another Proposed PJM Plan To Deal With Massive A.I. Data Center Electricity Demands Fails To Protect Consumers, Will Increase Electricity Bills Up To $100 Billion From 2028 To 2032 [PaEN]

-- PA Senate Republicans Introduce Bill To Eliminate Need For Any State Permits, Any Public Review Of Permits Before Construction Of A.I. Data Centers, Related Power Plants [PaEN]

-- PUC: Brace For Higher Electric Bills As A Result Of Soaring Power Use; Consumers Should Review Energy Options [PaEN]

-- Independent Fiscal Office: Residential Electricity Bills ‘Begin Surge:’ Natural Gas Prices Up 71%, PJM Prices Up Due To A.I. Data Center Demand [PaEN]

-- PJM Electricity Auction: PJM Lost 2.8 Gigawatts Of Power Due To Reduced Reliability Rating Of Natural Gas Power Plants; Could Gain 12.2 Gigawatts By Increasing Reliability From Less Than 75% Now To An Achievable 90% [PaEN]

-- 30 Stakeholder Comments Received By PUC On Adequacy Of Electricity Supplies In Pennsylvania; Increasing Natural Gas Power Plant Reliability To 90-95% Would Mean No Imminent Capacity Problem