On Tuesday, the Pennsylvania Senate’s Environmental Resources and Energy Committee approved legislation establishing an Independent Energy Office (IEO), state Sen. Gene Yaw (R-23) said.
Yaw, the sponsor of the legislation said the office would help the state understand its energy resources and opportunities.
“Pennsylvania has one of the most diverse energy portfolios in the United States,” Yaw said. “There is no question we can capitalize on our state’s energy richness, but first we must stop apologizing for it. I believe an Independent Energy Office can provide impartial, timely, and data driven analysis to guide our state in determining and meeting future energy needs.”
In November, the U.S. Energy Information Administration found that the state’s natural gas production reached a record 7.6 trillion cubic feet in 2021, making Pennsylvania the second-largest natural gas producers in the country after Texas. Additionally, the EIA found that the state is the third-largest coal producing state, after Wyoming and West Virginia and the second largest coal exporter in the country after West Virginia. Pennsylvania is also second in the country for electricity generated by nuclear power and is the second-largest net supplier of energy to other states.
Yaw said the IEO would be modeled after Pennsylvania’s Independent Fiscal Office. That office does not support or oppose any policy it analyzes, but publishes reports and estimates, while disclosing its methodologies, data sources and assumptions used to produce reports.