PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Demand for energy in Pennsylvania is projected to increase significantly over the next decade, and supply isn’t keeping up. While that has some state lawmakers warning about looming “blackouts,” industry experts say solutions are already in the works.
Asim Haque, senior vice president of governmental and member services for PJM Interconnection — which oversees the power grid for Pennsylvania and 12 other states — said electricity demand in the Keystone State could increase by 40% over the next decade and a half.
“Increasing demand for power is definitely coming from the data center sector, generative AI, electric vehicles,” he said. “The sort of 20-year era of flat power demand is over.”
But increased demand comes amid a decrease in supply. PJM’s annual power market auction earlier this year saw prices 800% higher than the year before.
Haque said PJM is changing how it approves electricity generators to get more online. For decades, energy came from a handful of large plants. Now, he said the requests are coming from many smaller renewables.
Energy consultant Rob Gramlich said PJM could look to other parts of the country where the process is significantly simplified.
“Texas has always been just very clear, like, ‘We’ll take care of the grid. You just do your driveway and get on the grid.’ That’s why Texas is the biggest clean energy state in the country,” he said.
Tom Rutigliano, senior advocate of climate and energy for the National Resource Defense Council, argued that the supply shortage is artificially inflated by certain PJM policies. He said PJM could streamline procedures to get renewables on the grid quicker and with less red tape.
“We hear some calls that the current situation justifies panic construction of new fossil fuel power plants. We don’t see any evidence to support these claims,” he said.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania House Republicans are sounding the alarm. They held a hearing earlier this month, which they titled, “Fighting to Keep the Lights On in PA.”
Republicans blame decarbonization policy and advocate for natural gas. Environmental advocates warn against continued reliance on fossil fuels, pushing for increased focus on renewables and storage, along with a more efficient selection process of energy generators.