Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed an energy choice bill Tuesday, saying the bill would take away local governments’ control over future energy choices.
Senate Bill 275, authored by state Sen. Gene Yaw (R-23), would have protected a future market for Pennsylvania’s natural gas industry.
In his veto letter to the state legislature, Wolf said the bill would strip municipalities of the ability to make decisions about energy choices.
“This legislation takes away local decision-making from municipalities by pre-empting local control on energy matters and choices,” Wolf wrote. “Specifically, the legislation would limit the tools available to local governments to address the global threat of climate change in future years and stands in the way of clean energy incentives and initiatives. As an additional matter, this bill is unnecessary as the Public Utility Commission currently regulates the provision of utility services in the commonwealth. Further, the language of this bill is overly broad and sweeping, likely providing unintended impacts and additional litigation against municipalities and the commonwealth.”
Wolf said the bill was also overly broad and sweeping and would likely have unintended consequences for municipalities.
Yaw responded that he was “baffled” by the governor’s decision.
“Gov. Tom Wolf’s baffling veto marks a sad day for Pennsylvania. Energy choice is about giving the power to consumers to decide what’s best for them, especially when historic inflationary pressures and skyrocketing utility costs are already pushing many families to a breaking point,” Yaw said. “Pennsylvania is second in the nation for natural gas production, and half of our residents can’t access it. This state – yes, Pennsylvania – produces one-third as much natural gas as the entire country of Russia. Unfortunately, the Wolf administration does not understand this or the relationship between energy, economy, and environment. Most egregiously, this administration tells its citizens the government will make the energy choice for them.”
In January 2021, Yaw said in a memorandum to legislators that leaving energy policy decisions with municipal entities “would create a policy founded on an unworkable patchwork of restrictions” and “deny residents access to differing energy resources.”
“My bill will place decisions regarding restrictions on the use of any energy source in housing and commercial energy applications solely within the purview of the state,” Yaw said in the memorandum. “This will ensure that all Pennsylvania businesses and homeowners have the opportunity to access energy, whether it be natural gas, solar, wind, geothermal or other.”
Yaw said that state energy policies over the last 20 years have resulted in lower electricity costs for Pennsylvanians and that natural gas development has been a part of those policies. Changing those policies would result in higher energy prices, he said.
“Policies limiting the use of certain fuel sources only slows environmental progress and raises energy costs,” Yaw said. “This veto will hurt the most vulnerable among us the hardest at a time when they can least afford it.”