Renewable energy accounts for less than 5% of Pennsylvania’s electricity generation in 2025.
Source: Pennsylvania’s Independent Fiscal Office
Grid Resiliency
Pennsylvania’s energy grid needs an upgrade
Electric bills are high right now, and Pennsylvanians are bracing for electricity prices to skyrocket even more.
Why? Our region's grid operator—PJM Interconnection—is failing and state leaders are chasing false solutions.
PJM is responsible for maintaining the electric grid (facilitating auctions and capacity markets to secure power supply) and managing electricity flow. Ideally, PJM balances cost with reliability.
However, rather than working to improve reliability and reduce the impact on customer bills, PJM consistently delays interconnecting cheap, clean renewable generation sources and parrots fossil fuel industry talking points.
Fossil fuel CEOs and their champions are using this failure as an excuse to call for more fracking and building more expensive gas-burning power plants.
But we know that's not the solution.
HERE ARE THE FACTS:
- Fully-built power plants don’t spring up overnight, and electricity bills are going up NOW.
- To lower electricity prices, we need to build the lowest-cost generation available. That is solar and wind power.
- Gas plants are expensive and disproportionately fail when we need them most, especially during periods of extreme cold weather.
- We need to fix existing plants—not build new gas plants— through weatherization and investments in backup fuels to increase reliability.
LEARN MORE: WHO IS "PJM?"
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WHAT'S THE SOLUTION?
PJM is lagging far behind other regions of the country in adding new resources like solar, wind, and battery storage that are low cost and combine well for reliability in a regional grid that can move power when and where it’s needed.
Getting more renewables built in PJM could significantly improve reliability and affordability—cutting capacity prices by as much as two thirds.
We need Pennsylvania to prioritize renewable energy and energy efficiency now if we want any relief from high energy bills.
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Tell your legislators: We need a More Sustainable and Diverse Energy Grid to Lower our Electric Bills!
More effort is needed immediately to prioritize renewable energy development in Pennsylvania, increase energy efficiency, and lower energy prices for everyone.
