Shapiro and PA’s Divided Legislature Can Work Together to Reduce Energy Costs
By Stephen Bloom
Gov. Josh Shapiro was right to emphasize in his first budget address that Pennsylvania can be a leader in energy production while still protecting our clean air and pure water. That kind of realism from Pennsylvania’s chief executive comes as a welcome relief. But although he talked in some detail about environmental policy, Shapiro stopped short of addressing the specific solutions that would increase the commonwealth’s energy capabilities and lower energy costs for consumers.
This was a missed opportunity for the new governor to build public consensus around his first budget proposal. A new statewide poll from the Commonwealth Foundation reveals that, when it comes to energy and the environment, 59 percent of Pennsylvania voters see rising energy costs as the most pressing issue. The sentiment is bipartisan, with both majorities of Republican and Democratic respondents ranking energy costs as their top concern.
And it’s not hard to see why.
An overwhelming number of the poll’s respondents—77 percent—indicated that their electric bill has risen over the past year. They’re right: electricity bills across Pennsylvania have increased an average of 73 percent just between December 2020 and December 2022.
Gas prices also continue to be sky-high, with prices over the past year being among the highest since 2018. Pennsylvania’s gasoline tax—which increased again to 61.1 cents per gallon in January—makes sticker shock at the pump worse. Even before the increase, Pennsylvania had the third-highest gas tax in the nation, trailing only California and Illinois.
Pennsylvania has abundant natural resources and is now the second-largest net supplier of energy to other states. But our overly burdensome regulatory bureaucracy blocks economic opportunity and drives up costs.
According to the poll, Pennsylvania voters disapprove of the job their state and local elected officials and congressional representatives are doing. Especially telling, Pennsylvanians have a higher disapproval rate of President Biden on energy policy—with 55 percent disapproving—than they do of energy companies—with 50 percent disapproving.
It’s a wake-up call for Harrisburg.
Almost half of the Pennsylvanians in the poll said no to paying more for “green” energy development. They do, however, agree on several realistic proposals to help reduce energy costs.
For example, nearly 70 percent of Pennsylvanians support building more pipelines to transport natural gas to homes and businesses, with majorities of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents supporting this proposal. Legislators can advance reforms to safely streamline the permitting process and clear the way for developing urgently needed pipelines.
To rebuild voter confidence, elected officials must stop embracing symbolic environmental virtue signaling. Instead, they must address the bread-and-butter issues facing everyday Pennsylvania families—namely, their ability to afford to heat and cool their homes and get from place to place.
Spurred by well-funded lobbyists and special interest groups, former Governor Wolf unilaterally pushed Pennsylvania’s entrance into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI)—a multi-state agreement that imposes a tax on energy production. Yet the RGGI tax, still held up in court, would only further increase costs for Pennsylvania families, raising electricity rates by an additional 24 to 36 percent.
When Pennsylvania voters understand these hidden costs, they oppose RGGI.
In addition, to prevent similar unilateral actions, voters want to ensure that their elected leaders always have the right to approve or disapprove major regulations that impact the economy. Unelected bureaucrats at the Department of Environmental Protection, for example, should not have the sole authority to draft regulations impacting the development of Pennsylvania’s natural gas reserves any more than auditors at the Department of Revenue should be drafting tax law.
To ensure no governor or agency official can legislate around the elected General Assembly through regulation, our state representatives should advance the constitutional amendment giving the General Assembly the authority to review proposed regulations. The Pennsylvania Senate passed the amendment earlier this year—but House Democrats have recently derailed it.
Pennsylvanians are too often victims of our state’s unnecessarily onerous energy regulations and high taxes—and they’re ready for a change. With the General Assembly back in session, Shapiro and lawmakers should focus their efforts on environmentally sound bipartisan solutions to invigorate energy production and reduce prices for all Pennsylvania families.
Stephen Bloom, a former state representative, is the Vice President of the Commonwealth Foundation, Pennsylvania’s free-market think tank. Twitter: @StephenLBloom; @Liberty4pa.
