Pennsylvania State Sen. Gene Yaw (R-Williamsport) is calling on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to make every state pay its fair share of energy costs.
Yaw, the chair of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, asked FERC to change a proposal from PJM Interconnection that he said unfairly shifts energy costs onto Pennsylvania families and businesses. In a letter to the commission, he asked federal regulators to reform PJM’s plan to extend a region-wide temporary cap on capacity prices in the electricity market. While he supports protections to prevent price spikes, Yaw said the current proposal spreads costs evenly across all states, even when some states’ policies are driving demand and forcing power plant closures.
“Pennsylvania’s diverse energy mix powers our state and exports reliable electricity to our neighbors,” Yaw said. “We support temporary protections for consumers, but states that retire plants and drive-up demand must pay their fair share, not shift those costs onto Pennsylvania ratepayers.”
Pennsylvania generates natural gas, nuclear power and coal that powers itself as well as provides power exports to neighboring states. Yaw said states choosing policies that reduce reliable generation, or encourage large new energy users like data centers, should be responsible for the additional strain they put on the grid. Before the price cap, states with higher demand, like Maryland and Virginia, electricity prices reflected local supply and demand conditions. Extending a flat, region-wide cap would mask those price signals and require states like Pennsylvania to absorb the higher costs created by higher demand in other states.
Yaw said FERC should adopt a hybrid approach which would keep a base price cap to protect consumers in areas without grid constraints, while allowing higher charges in states where policy decisions have led to tighter supply and higher demand and hold states accountable for their energy policy decisions.