PA Lawmakers want to hold solar energy development to a higher standard than dirty fossil fuels, distribution centers, and pipelines
With Senate Bill 211, lawmakers target a real, cost-effective climate solution that will ultimately hurt Pennsylvania farmers and ratepayers.
Lawmakers in Harrisburg are using a new tactic to hinder solar development in Pennsylvania. They want to impose higher standards on solar energy generation compared to other energy industries and land use development projects.
Senate Bill 211 targets the rapidly growing solar energy industry with unfair bonding and decommissioning requirements. These inequities will make it increasingly difficult to build solar projects.
By imposing restrictions on solar energy, Pennsylvania legislators are limiting economic opportunities for farmers who could otherwise lease their land to host solar panels, thus making it feasible to farm and stay in business. These restrictions infringe on their property rights and prevent them from making choices that benefit their families. It also leads to farmland being developed in ways that ensure it will never become agricultural land again.
SB 211 is in direct contrast to Act 96 of 2022 which removed the Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board (EQB)'s authority to adjust well bonding amounts for the conventional oil and gas industry and capped the amount for conventional wells at just $2,500 per well, or $25,000 for all of an operator’s wells. For perspective, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) estimates the average cost to cap a well is $33,000. As a result, drilling companies no longer need to cover the full costs of closing a well. This places the burden of plugging abandoned wells on Pennsylvania taxpayers. The DEP has located about 27,000 abandoned methane wells, but the agency says an additional 350,000 abandoned wells remain undocumented.
Solar development involves the installation of temporary structures that will feed our electric grid for decades. They produce no air emissions and, if properly sited, they have minimal to no impact on water quality. Meanwhile, the legislature protects industries with a history of impacting our air, streams, and drinking wells from paying the real costs of the harm they inflict.