HARRISBURG, PA — Pennsylvania lawmakers and energy stakeholders gathered Tuesday to examine the drivers behind rising electricity costs and discuss potential policy changes aimed at reducing utility bills for households and businesses across the Commonwealth.
The Senate Democratic Policy Committee hearing focused on factors contributing to higher electric bills, including growing energy demand, power generation constraints, transmission costs, utility regulation, and consumer protection measures.
Committee Chair Sen. Nick Miller, D-Lehigh, said the hearing was intended to identify practical strategies to improve affordability while maintaining electric grid reliability.
“Families, seniors, and small businesses across our Commonwealth are facing growing pressure from rising energy costs,” Miller said. “Our goal must be simple: lower costs, strengthen reliability, and put consumers first.”
Testimony highlighted broader national trends affecting electricity prices. Kim Barrow, vice chair of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, said the average residential electricity price nationwide rose to 18.8 cents per kilowatt-hour in March, up from 17.1 cents a year earlier.
Barrow attributed rising supply costs to multiple factors, including the retirement of baseload power generation, delays connecting new generation sources to the grid, increased transmission infrastructure investment, and higher prices in recent PJM Interconnection capacity auctions.
“The supply portion of the electric bill is being driven by many factors,” Barrow said, noting that data center growth is expected to significantly increase electricity demand across the PJM region. PJM forecasts data center demand could reach 32 gigawatts by 2030.
Sen. James Malone, D-Lancaster, questioned whether utilities are adequately balancing shareholder returns with customer affordability. He specifically cited increasing profits at PPL Electric while rate increase requests continue.
“I think we need to be asking hard questions about why they are consistently asking for rate increases when they have the ability to invest back into their systems and spare ratepayers,” Malone said.
Consumer advocates urged policymakers to strengthen protections for residential customers as electricity demand grows.
Darryl Lawrence of the Pennsylvania Office of Consumer Advocate recommended adopting what he described as fair ratemaking practices, requiring explicit customer consent before enrollment in variable-rate plans, and ensuring large-scale data center development does not shift costs onto existing customers.
Lawrence said state regulators already possess authority to protect consumers while accommodating new sources of electricity demand.
“To protect existing ratepayers from these costs and risks,” Lawrence said, regulators must ensure reliable and affordable service while addressing the power needs of emerging industries such as hyperscale data centers.
Industry representatives also discussed Pennsylvania’s competitive retail energy market.
Alex Charlton, state chair for government relations at Constellation and the Retail Energy Supply Association, said stronger oversight of suppliers could improve consumer outcomes while preserving market competition.
“Keeping bad actors out and welcoming good actors in will help ensure the retail market can deliver the proper consumer protections, innovation, economic benefits, and consumer value,” Charlton said.
Other organizations providing testimony included the Pennsylvania Utility Law Project and the Energy Association of Pennsylvania.
The hearing comes as lawmakers continue debating energy policy proposals amid rising electricity demand and concerns about future rate increases for Pennsylvania consumers.
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