Indicators 2022: Energy use in NEPA — economic, environmental impacts

WILKES-BARRE — Andrew Chew, Director of Research at The Institute for Public Policy and Economic Development, this week said Pennsylvania’s fossil fuel energy industries include the extraction of coal, oil, and natural gas, and fossil fuel electric power generation.

“These sectors together employ more than 18,000 workers, with over 300 in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties. Statewide, jobs in these industries have average annual wages per worker of over $100,000 per year — 68% higher than the average wage of all jobs” Chew said.

Chew said reducing and managing greenhouse gas emissions is critical in addressing the threats posed by global climate change, however, and human activities are the primary causes of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The largest human source of greenhouse gases in the United States is the use of fossil fuels for electricity, heat, and transportation.

“That brings us to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative,” added Chew. “RGGI is a cooperative effort of 11 northeastern states to curb emissions from electricity production. It is a ‘cap and trade’ style program that sets a regional CO2 emissions cap. Lawmakers have been concerned about the state’s participation in this effort, due to the potential for job losses that could fail to result in any significant cut in national emissions.”

A related question, Chew said, is to what extent with growth in renewable energy will offset any potential job losses in fossil fuel electricity generation. He said complicating this question is the likelihood that RGGI will not only incentivize shifts from fossil fuel to non-fossil fuel electricity sources, but shifts from more carbon intensive to less carbon intensive ones (i.e., from coal to natural gas).

“Growth in the renewable industry is likely to follow different development pattern than fossil fuel generation; as a result, some communities would see employment growth and others would see declines,” Chew said.

According to Chew, negative impacts may be consequential, and they should guide efforts to help those communities navigate this transition through worker retraining, economic development programs, and infrastructure investments.

Even though job losses cannot be determined at this time, if the environmental benefits prove best for the Commonwealth, those affected by energy related job losses will likely be able to find comparable employment in other sectors (which may or may not require some reskilling or upskilling) as Pennsylvania currently has more job openings in all industries at all levels than people available to fill them.

Expected changes in monthly

utility bills remain unclear

Chew said there has been concern that one effect of Pennsylvania joining RGGI may be increased electricity rates for end users. While some have expressed concern that the additional costs incurred by electricity producers will inflate electricity costs for consumers, there is not yet clear evidence.

“The cost of generating electricity is only one portion of a household or business’ electricity cost,” Chew concluded. “This share has declined, and delivery costs have grown at a faster pace than generation costs. Furthermore, some research has shown that reinvestment of proceeds into renewable energy, energy efficiency, and utility bill assistance for customers have resulted in net decreases in electricity bills as a result of RGGI participation, even though wholesale rates went up.”