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Department of Public Service seeks procedural fixes to Act 174 to align energy planning with Land Use Review Board timetable
Summary
Department staff proposed procedural, non‑substantive changes to Act 174 to sync enhanced energy plan review with the Land Use Review Board process, consolidate public hearings, add a provisional determination to avoid coverage gaps, and give the agency up to a year to update standards after the comprehensive energy plan.
The Department of Public Service told the House Energy and Digital Infrastructure Committee on Feb. 24 that modest procedural edits to Act 174 would reduce duplicative hearings and prevent short gaps in a region’s ‘‘substantial deference’’ during rapid regional plan updates.
Claire McElvenney, the department’s data and equity policy manager, said the draft language the agency provided focuses on timing and process rather than substantive changes to local or regional energy policy. She said the changes would align the department’s enhanced‑energy‑plan review with the Land Use Review Board’s (LERB) new review timetable under Act 181 and streamline public engagement. "We're not aware of any siting petitions that have been denied because of a plan's substantial deference," McElvenney said, arguing that substantial…
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