Escalating demand and diminished supply has spiked PUC concern about the future ability of state’s electric grid

Concerned with the possibility of the state’s electric supplies not meeting demand in the coming decade, the Pennsylvania Utility Commission (PUC) gathered written comments from 30 industry stakeholders exploring preventative measures.

In its comments, the Natural Resources Defense Council, a nonprofit international environmental advocacy group, called the state’s electric supply situation “precarious” and further warned that, if managed incorrectly, it will “cost tens of billions of dollars and risk life-threatening winter power outages.”

The comment period was a follow-up to the PUC’s technical conference held in November, also about electric resource adequacy — or the ability to meet electricity demand without blackouts or disruptions in service.

Environmental advocacy groups like POWER Interfaith, the Philadelphia-area, faith-based community-organizing network, said the answer is renewable, solar, and wind energies for example, and they suggested in their comments that the PUC remove barriers to affordable clean energy.

» READ MORE: Environmentalists battle to get Peco to increase its use of green energy, but the oil industry calls it a job killer

Last November, Peco agreed to purchase more solar energy — in this case, enough to supply 3,000 homes. POWER called on other state utilities to follow Peco’s example.

“As concerns rise about the threat of the coming administration to climate work, this win is a good reminder that there is still much progress that can be made at the local level and at our Public Utility Commissions to transition us away from fossil fuels and toward the future that our clients like POWER envision,” said Devin McDougall, an Earthjustice attorney.

The sources for rising electric demand include data centers, bitcoin operations, and electric vehicles. But the major driver is extreme weather conditions, which strain the power grid and disproportionately impact low-income residents. According to the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), in 2024 there were 27 weather and climate disasters with over $1 billion in damage each.

One in seven Philadelphia residents spend over 10% of their income on utilities. More than 6% is considered to be a “high” energy burden; 10% or more is considered “severe.” These residents also live in low-income neighborhoods where outages tend to be more frequent, last longer, and have residents that are ill-prepared to deal with power shutdowns. POWER also argued that clean energy is a health-equity issue because the most vulnerable residents of Pennsylvania live with toxic residue of fossil fuel extraction oil.

» READ MORE: POWER Interfaith proposes the ‘People’s Energy Plan,’ pushing Peco to use more renewable energy

PJM Interconnection, the grid operator for 13 states, including Pennsylvania, has reported there is currently enough electricity for this winter season given the latest weather forecasts, but extreme conditions may result in implementing emergency procedures.

The escalating demand also comes at a time when supply is shrinking because of the growing retirement of older coal- and gas-powered generation units and the slow pace of bringing on new units to replace them.

According to Philadelphia Energy Authority, an independent municipal authority, “Pennsylvania’s generation capacity is caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, coal-fired power plants are retiring rapidly. On the other, the PJM queue is clogged with potential solar plants withering on the vine as interconnection processes grind grudgingly, and equipment for new gas-fired power plants faces a worldwide shortage.”

The PUC, along with industry stakeholders, is using all its feedback to decide what steps to take to avert a crisis. “There’s a certain sense of urgency we have to have,” said Dave Velazquez, Peco president and CEO. “Utilities and the commission have a unique responsibility to our customers to make sure the lights stay on.”