Will PA Go 100 Percent Renewable By 2050?

By Maria Marabito, Delaware Valley Journal

February 23, 2022

Some Democrats say Pennsylvania has nearly all of the resources needed to adopt 100 percent renewable energy, but at what cost?

While the state House passed HB100 in its 2021-22 session, written and sponsored by Rep. Chris Rabb (D-Philadelphia), the bill is stalled in the Senate. It calls for the commonwealth to use 50 percent renewable energy by 2030, 80 percent renewable by 2040, and 100 percent renewable by 2050.

However, it is unlikely that Senate companion bill SB872 will pass, said Sen. Katie Muth (D-Berks/Chester/Montgomery) during a February 16 webinar hosted by PennEnvironment promoting the goal of 100 percent renewable energy. However, advocates of the bill hope that promoting 100 percent renewable energy will lead to future change.

Sen. Amanda Cappelletti (D-Delaware/Montgomery) and Rabb are confident an all-renewable future is on the horizon. Rabb believes it will occur sooner than 2050.

Pennsylvania could take several different pathways toward using 100 percent renewable energy. For example, one involves improved energy efficiency, grid modernization, a mix of utility-scale solar plants. Rooftop and commercial solar, onshore and offshore wind, would fill out the list, according to PennEnvironment.

Conversely, U.S. Sen.Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) names natural gas as the primary energy source that Pennsylvania should be pursuing.

“If lawmakers are serious about reducing emissions on a global scale as soon as possible, they will work to build out natural gas pipeline infrastructure and permit additional LNG export terminals so more American natural gas can reach more markets,” he told the Delaware Valley Journal.

When asked to respond to this comment, Rabb rejected the idea of using natural gas, as did Muth.

“Pennsylvania is one of the biggest methane emitters in the nation,” Muth said. “So not only we polluting ourselves and the people that live here in the commonwealth, we’re also passing the poison across state lines. This legislation would go a long way into making Pennsylvania a friendly neighbor and a clean neighbor and one that doesn’t compromise people’s health and well-being as the cost of doing business for corporate polluters.”

Cappelletti, Rabb, and Muth shared their motivations for supporting 100 percent renewable energy. They cite personal experiences with polluters and family histories of environmental advocacy. They also note racist practices, health effects and safety concerns related to climate change. And the lawmakers fear an increase in natural disasters and extreme weather. And they worry about the well-being of the next generation.

“[The climate crisis is] the most important problem facing us in this moment, and when you have big problems, you need urgent action, and you need bold change,” Muth said. “People are going to be uncomfortable, but it’s a hell of a lot better than having your house knocked down by a tornado or ruined by floods.”

She added that increasing public support for 100 percent renewable energy is needed to reframe this issue as a “life-saving measure” and not a partisan one. The renewable energy bill covers all energy production sectors, including transportation, buildings, and industry.

What those advocates did not mention was math.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, in 2020, renewable energy sources generated just four percent of Pennsylvania’s total electricity. Wind energy was the largest renewable energy source last year and provided about two-fifths of the state’s renewable energy. Solar energy produced a mere eight percent of that four percent — a fraction of the state’s energy needs.

And that is just electricity. Fewer than one in four Pennsylvania households heat with electricity. More than half use natural gas, and the rest use heating oil and propane. That energy would have to be replaced with electricity generated by renewables.

Then there is gasoline. Electric vehicles account for just two percent of the cars registered in the Keystone State. The other 98 percent, about 1 million vehicles, use gasoline. All those cars will have to be replaced, and all the energy generated by that gasoline will also have to come from the renewable grid.

As a result, few energy experts believe a complete transition to renewable energy by 2050, which may be a laudable goal, is a realistic possibility.

“The all or nothing energy policies that continue to be advanced by Pennsylvania’s very own progressive state and federal legislators have authentic and significant effects on the quality of life for of all Pennsylvanians in the form of job loss, higher energy prices, companies choosing to relocate to other states, and the pain at the pump we are all experiencing when we fill-up our cars,” said Erica Clayton Wright, a spokesperson for the Senate Republican Caucus.

Still, the idea has widespread support.

According to an opinion poll conducted by the Ohio River Valley Institute in 2021, most Pennsylvania voters, including Democrats, Republicans, and independents, are concerned about fracking waste and air and water pollution and support a crackdown on fracking. And 77 percent of voters believe investments in clean energy will positively impact Pennsylvania.

Rabb said he believes renewable energy continues to be a partisan issue in Pennsylvania for several reasons including “fossil fuel lobbyists’ unfettered access to legislators in Harrisburg.” He also said the state produces the “second-highest amount of fracked gas and coal in the nation. And he complained about “the corporate duopoly that puts the interests of industry over working people.”

The renewable energy bill “is giving us the guidelines of developing the plan and putting resources into the right hands and bringing all of the affected people to the table to decide how their community should look like,” Cappelletti said.

She added many constituents contacted her about the climate crisis and advocated for renewable energy.

“We’re raising hell in that [Senate] chamber because this is how we’re going to get it done,” Rabb said. “And it may not happen as quickly as we’d like, but once we have the wheels moving, there’s no going back.”

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