PA Environment Digest Blog: House Committee OKs Bill To Give PUC More Authority To Regulate A.I. Data Centers, Other Large Loads To Protect Ratepayers, Electric Grid

On February 2, the House Energy Committee amended and reported out House Bill 1834 (Matzie-D-Beaver) authorizing the Public Utility Commission to adopt regulations covering A.I. data centers and other large loads to protect ratepayers and the electric grid.

The amendment and the bill were approved by a 14 to 12 vote along party lines-- Republicans opposing.

The amendment, which replaces all the language in the original bill, would require--

-- Certification a large load is bringing its own energy resources;

-- Requiring interruptible electrical service during energy shortages;

-- Requiring large loads to join energy curtailment programs;

-- Require costs of providing service to large loads is not subsidized by any other ratepayers;

-- Require contributions to the Low Income Energy Assistance Program, except where large loads bring their own energy resources; and

-- Establishes a Community Energy Facilities Program to fund projects related to local energy generation and the impacts of large load projects funded by a charge on the electricity used by the large load.

Click Here for a copy of the amendment.

Rep. Martin Causer (R-Cameron), Minority Chair of the Committee, opposed the amendment and the bill saying, “There were a number of concerns expressed at that hearing that made the bill, in my mind, problematic back when we had the hearing.

“But unfortunately, the amendment, in my mind, changes the bill from problematic to, in many ways, dangerous.

“It changes references throughout the bill from a commercial data center to a large load user that brings in many, many more facilities across the state and actually encompasses manufacturing at all levels across Pennsylvania, regulating them, taxing them, still contains the requirement that 25% come from a renewable source of energy.

“However, it does add nuclear [power] to that list, adds a requirement that would allow the PUC to require large load users coming online to accept interruptible power service. What industry can do that?

“And then on top of all of that, we add fees, taxes, take the revenue, provide it to the PEDA, the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority, to fund renewable energy projects and community solar facilities, which I object to.

“So I think that this bill takes us in the wrong direction, and I would urge the members to vote no on the amendment before us.”

Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler (D-Philadelphia), Majority Chair, responded by saying, “I'll just say that this amendment does incorporate feedback from dozens of stakeholders, including the Pennsylvania Consumer Advocate, who testified before this Committee, the Pennsylvania Utility Law Project, which testified before this Committee.

“And I believe that this version of the legislation does more to protect consumers.

“That is very important to me, that we make sure we do everything as a Committee that we can to make sure that people back home are not seeing their bills go up.

“People are concerned that they can't pay their energy bills, they're worried about future blackouts and brownouts, and they're working as hard as they can right now.

“We all hear that back in our district, and so I think that has to be our focus, is protecting consumers from seeing their bills go up even more, which is exactly what this bill does.

“This bill would also fund universal service programs and a supplemental LIHEAP [Low-Income Heating Assistance] fund to support seniors and people in the most need who are struggling to pay their bills.

“These are people who can't afford to keep their energy on and are resorting to things like leaving their ovens on, unsafe things that should not be happening in the Commonwealth.

“I strongly support this amendment. I think it's good for the people of Pennsylvania, and I look forward to talking more before this bill comes to the floor.”

Rep. Causer responded by saying, “When this Committee was created, and separated from the Environmental Resources Committee to focus on energy, I was encouraged by the fact that the committee might be able to focus on policies that really move us forward with growing our energy industry in Pennsylvania.

“We know, and we've talked at several meetings about the fact that we have a supply and demand issue in this Commonwealth.

“We know that our grid is not as secure as it should be. We know that we are seeing increased demand at exponential levels. We know that supply is decreasing because of policy choices.

“We have abundant resources in this state. I come from an area that has abundant resources. Our entire economy centers around energy resources.

“Pennsylvania is an energy powerhouse, or has the ability to be. We need policies that match that. We need policies that grow our energy industry because the key to securing our grid, growing our economy is to have more energy, not less.

“And that's exactly what this bill does. It makes us less competitive.

“Anybody that's looking at Pennsylvania is going to go somewhere else, and we're going to continue to have less energy on the grid, we're going to continue to be less competitive, and we're going to continue going in the wrong direction.”

In concluding remarks, Rep. Fiedler said, “I mentioned earlier, and I'll say it again, I believe that we are accountable to the people back home, the people who sent us here, the people who elected us to make laws. That's why we're here.

‘And people's [energy] bills are too high. We all know that. We hear it in our district offices, we hear it at town halls, we hear it in the phone calls and the emails.

“And I believe that this bill, Chairman Rob Matzie's bill, helps to protect those folks back home who are already having a hard time and who sent us here to work.

“We could sit on our hands. We could say that, "We don't like this part. We don't like that part. We're not going to do anything." B

“ut I really don't think that that's what people want to hear right now.

“They see [data center] proposals going up in their neighborhood or the neighborhood, the next one over.

“They see their [energy] bills going up, and they want us to act.

“This bill is thoughtful, it is thorough, and with the amendment, I believe it does even more to protect all consumers, including the very poorest people in our districts, but really to protect everybody from shouldering even higher costs.

“Some things have been said about the bill that I could sit here and dispute, but I think everything I said really gets to the heart of it.

“Folks sent us here to help keep their bills down, to make sure they have reliable service, and that is what this bill does.”

Click Here to watch a video of the meeting.

The bill now goes to the full House for consideration.

Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler (D-Philadelphia) serves as Majority Chair of the House Energy Committee and can be contacted by calling 215-271-9190 or click here to contact. Rep. Martin Causer (R-Cameron) serves as Minority Chair and can be contacted by calling 717-787-5075 or by sending email to: mcauser@pahousegop.com.

Resource Link:

-- PA House Committee Hearing: Witnesses Agree - A.I. Data Centers - Real And Purely Speculative - Are Driving Up The Cost Of Electricity; Without Effective Action Energy Increases Will Not End [PaEN]

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Jan. 31 to Feb. 6 - 10 More Conventional Abandoned Well Violations; Failure To Notify DEP Of Water Contamination; Casing/Cement Failure [PaEN]

-- Washington County Residents On Water Wells Not Aware A MarkWest Pipeline Drilling Project Lost 1.2 Million Gallons Of Drilling Fluid In Mount Pleasant & Robinson Townships [PaEN]

-- Environmental Hearing Board Denies CNX Gas Company Motion To Throw Out Ullom Family Appeal Over Water Loss In Washington County; Scope Of Rebuttable Presumption Under Review [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - February 7 [PaEN]

-- DEP Invites Comments On Permit For Homer City Generation 5.8 Mile, 30-Inch Natural Gas Pipeline To Serve Proposed Data Center 4.5 GW Power Plant In Indiana County [PaEN]

-- DEP Invites Comments On Columbia Gas Permit For Project To Protect 2 Major Natural Gas Pipelines From Impacts Of Longwall Coal Mining In West Finley Twp., Washington County [PaEN]

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Approved 74 Shale Gas Well Pad Water Use General Permits In December, January; 471 In 2025 [PaEN]

-- Guest Comments: Jacoby & Cove Mountains In Loyalsock State Forest Will Be Degraded For Generations By PA General Energy's 'Saluda' Shale Gas Access Road, Staging Area Project In Lycoming County - By Barbara Jarmoska, Resident [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 56 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In February 7 PA Bulletin [PaEN]