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Lawmakers hear unified warnings on rising energy bills, probe data centers and market fixes
Summary
A joint House hearing on Jan. 26 examined why Pennsylvanians face rising energy bills, focusing on capacity-market spikes, data‑center demand growth, transmission and interconnection problems, and policy options including large-load tariffs, consumer safeguards and support for low‑income households.
A joint hearing of the Pennsylvania House Consumer Protection, Technology & Utilities committees on Jan. 26 brought regulators, grid operators, utilities, consumer advocates and industry groups together to review why electricity and heating bills are rising and what the General Assembly might do.
Chairs and witnesses repeatedly pointed to a supply-and-demand mismatch. Asim Haque of PJM Interconnection described the system as “the air traffic controller for electricity” and warned that rapidly growing demand — in particular from data centers — is tightening supply. “When supply and demand fundamentals are tight, market prices increase,” Haque said, noting PJM’s updated long-term load forecast showing large growth in megawatts over coming decades.
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission’s chairman, Steve de Frank, told lawmakers the PUC is focused on transmission-market reforms and model large-load tariffs to prevent ratepayers from unfairly absorbing costs for new, energy‑intensive customers. Consumer advocates urged stronger protections for households unable to pay bills: Elizabeth Marks of the Pennsylvania Utility Law Project said more than 387,000 households experienced a utility shutoff in 2025 and advocated automatic protections and program expansions to prevent disconnections.
Witnesses did not agree on a single policy path. Utilities and generators highlighted the need for predictable long-term revenue signals and for new generation to be financed and built; consumer advocates emphasized curbs on practices that let shopping customers overpay and urged that large new loads “pay their own way.” Retail suppliers countered that competition gives consumers options and that mandatory returns to default service could reduce choice and increase costs.
Lawmakers pressed PJM on whether the interconnection queue had been streamlined; PJM said reforms should allow most applicants to receive studies and decisions within one to two years but stressed that building plants involves additional supply‑chain, permitting and siting hurdles. Chairs closed by calling for greater transparency on project cost math, accountability on utilities’ authorized returns and strengthened state support for assistance programs such as LIHEAP.
Next steps identified during the hearing include further oversight of PUC rulemaking on large-load tariffs, exploring statutory consumer protections for retail energy shoppers, considering state supplements for assistance programs, and continued engagement with PJM on transmission planning and the proposed reliability backstop procurement.
