Pennsylvania State Rep. Craig Williams (R- Chadds Ford) introduced legislation that would prevent the state’s Public Utility Commission from enacting state energy policy without legislative action.
Williams said his legislation, the Pennsylvania Ratepayer Protection Act, would lower electricity costs for families and small businesses while addressing changes to energy demand from data center buildout, as well as growing electrification efforts.
“Pennsylvania produces enormous amounts of electricity, but our residents are increasingly competing with massive Big Tech buyers for that power,” said Williams. “This legislation puts ratepayers on equal footing and protects them from bearing the cost of building new electricity generation and infrastructure required by hyper-scale data centers.”
The legislation is a response to actions by Gov. Josh Shapiro to address electricity in the PJM region. Earlier this year, governors in the 13 state PJM region met with President Donald Trump to address rising electricity prices and growing demand expected from artificial intelligence and data center development.
The governors and Trump signed a “Statement of Principles Regarding PJM that focused on stabilizing electricity markets and ensuring an adequate power supply for the region. The agreement obligated Pennsylvania to “use all available authorities” to ensure the PUC undertakes rulemaking to adhere to the agreement.
The legislation would require the PUC to NOT act without legislation that enables it to do so, Williams said.
“Much of our electricity policy is governed by state law,” he said. “If we want these protections to work for Pennsylvania families, we must codify them in our utility laws.”
Specifically, the legislation would codify the Ratepayer Protection Pledge signed earlier this week. That agreement signed in Washington, D.C., would require tech companies to pay the full cost of data centers through either bringing their own electricity generation or paying for the cost of building the needed infrastructure and connections to the grid, instead of shifting those costs onto ratepayers.
Williams’ legislation would require hyper-scale data centers to “Bring Their Own Generation” rather than drawing power from existing power supplies to homes and small businesses, and would establish power pricing parity by requiring utilities to enter into long-term power purchase agreements on behalf of ratepayers, allowing consumers and small business customers to compete for the state’s electricity supply before it is contracted by hyper-scale data companies.
“Pennsylvania has the resources to power the next generation of economic development,” Williams said. “By requiring companies to pay their own costs, build their own generation and allowing ratepayers to compete for long-term power supply, we can lower electricity prices while keeping Pennsylvania open for business.”