HARRISBURG, PA — Pennsylvania’s electric and natural gas utilities warned Tuesday that surging regional power costs and reliability risks could overwhelm customers, even as they pledged to work with Governor Josh Shapiro and lawmakers following his 2026–27 budget address.
Energy Association of Pennsylvania President and CEO Andy Tubbs said utilities agree on the need to keep energy affordable and reliable but raised alarms about market forces driving customer bills far beyond utility control. The association represents the state’s electric and natural gas distribution companies, which deliver power to nearly nine million households and businesses across the commonwealth.
Tubbs said member utilities invest nearly $600 million each year in customer assistance programs and energy efficiency initiatives and remain committed to ensuring vulnerable customers maintain access to essential service. He acknowledged disagreements with the administration’s approach but said the industry is prepared to engage on solutions that support reliability, jobs, and economic development while keeping rates reasonable.
According to the association, roughly half of a typical electric bill reflects generation supply costs, which utilities do not control. Distribution companies do not produce electricity and earn revenue only for delivering it, with rates subject to review and approval by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. Generation charges from power plant owners, Tubbs said, are passed directly to customers without profit to utilities.
The association pointed to recent PJM Interconnection capacity auction results as a major concern. Tubbs said Pennsylvania customers now face more than $16 billion annually in energy-related costs, compared with $2.2 billion just three years ago. He added that PJM’s December auction for the 2027–28 delivery year failed to secure enough power to meet reliability targets, marking the first such shortfall in the regional grid operator’s history.
Tubbs said the outcome represents a large transfer of money from Pennsylvania ratepayers to out-of-state generation owners and heightens concerns about long-term reliability as demand grows.
In response, the Energy Association of Pennsylvania outlined a package of policy priorities it said could ease pressure on customers. Those include stronger protections against what it described as retail shopping abuses that cost consumers more than $400 million in 2025, pathways for new in-state power generation, restoration of consumer protections for customers who pay bills on time, a state supplement to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, changes to net-metering policies, and a review of longstanding energy mandates for cost effectiveness.
The statement came as lawmakers begin budget hearings and negotiations following Shapiro’s address, setting the stage for a broader debate over energy affordability, grid reliability, and the commonwealth’s economic competitiveness.
For the latest news on everything happening in Chester County and the surrounding area, be sure to follow MyChesCo on Google News and MSN.