Residents, groups, and nonprofits were invited to join a roundtable discussion on Tuesday about rising energy costs throughout the Northeast. The event was held by Affordable PA and featured a panel of experts and advocates.
By Marcella Kester | For Times Leader
Jeffrey Lake posed a question about energy costs to a panel of experts and advocates during a roundtable discussion held by Affordable PA. Lake, a Democrat, is running for a seat in the state senate in the 22nd District.
By Marcella Kester | For Times Leader
Event moderator Anthony Gratter, regional organizer for Affordable PA, poses a question to the audience during a roundtable discussion on rising energy costs. Panel members at Tuesday Evening’s event included various experts and advocates from the Sierra Club, PennFuture, and the University of Scranton.
By Marcella Kester | For Times Leader
From left: Sarah Corcoran, deputy director of the PA Chapter of the Sierra Club; Annie Regan, senior campaign director, PennFuture; and Dr. Joyanna Hopper, professor of political science, University of Scranton, discussed various issues around rising energy costs for Pennsylvania consumers and how they may be combated during a roundtable discussion on Tuesday.
By Marcella Kester | For Times Leader
Residents, organizations, and political groups joined together in downtown Wilkes-Barre to find answers to two questions.
Why are their utility bills climbing, and how can they stop it?
Anthony Gratter, regional organizer for Affordable Pennsylvania, acted as the moderator for a roundtable discussion on Tuesday evening. He helped orchestrate the event, which featured himself, community experts, and advocates to elaborate on the driving forces behind rising energy costs in the area while proposing immediate, short-term, and long-term cost-saving measures.
“We wanted to help educate the public about why their utility bills are going up,” Gratter explained. “I wanted to provide a space where people could come and receive some information about what was going on.”
Opening the discussion, he asked for a show of hands as to how many attendees saw their utility bills increase. Nearly all hands went up.
Joining him was Sarah Corcoran, deputy director of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the Sierra Club, Annie Regan, senior campaign director of PennFuture, and Dr. Joyanna Hopper, professor of political science at The University of Scranton.
Compared to the commonwealth’s neighbors, Hopper told the group that Pennsylvania’s utility costs jumped more than 46% since 2018.
Supply and demand
The issue? Supply and demand, Corcoran said.
“We don’t have the capacity, the amount of energy on the grid that we need to sustain the growth that is happening right now,” she said.
Corcoran explained that many of the projects partially responsible for rising costs are to update aging infrastructure; however, the majority of those projects rely on updating already outdated or overused resources and not focusing on clean or renewable energy possibilities.
On the subject of clean energy, Regan told the group that only 4-5% of the state’s total energy supply comes from clean or renewable resources, adding that a shift towards a more balanced and diversified grid needs to happen across the state.
“We need to have more of an energy mix,” Regan added, stating that getting clean energy options up and running may be more cost-effective than updating current infrastructure.
However, clean energy has its own hurdles. Due to changes within President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” cuts to credits and funding have caused pauses to renewable energy sources, both for residential and commercial customers. Additionally, options available in other states — such as “Community solar” — are not available in the Commonwealth, and cuts have led to an estimated $194 million and over 100,000 potential jobs lost.
“We’ve taken a pause — and potentially steps backwards — as we are trying to keep up with growing energy demand. This is not going to get us to a point where we have the energy supply that we need to support demand,” she continued.
Adding data centers
Another topic of extended discussion was the recent interest in the building of data centers across the region.
The panel noted there are two types of centers — a basic data center and a hyperscaled AI data center. The hyperscaled centers are “massive” in comparison to their counterparts, the group explained, and can consume the equivalent of roughly 100,000 households’ worth of electricity annually. One center can place tension on an already overworked system.
The need for increased supply from the proposed data centers can cause utility companies such as PPL to request rate increases in order to upgrade infrastructure to handle the increased need.
PJM, which helps set rates for utility companies in Pennsylvania and 12 other states, recently extended its existing price cap for two more years, now until 2030, after Shapiro spoke with PJM’s Chairman David E. Mills.
However, she continued, the increase is not seen by center operators. While residents pay a higher price, data centers often lock in lower rates due to the amount of energy they use, according to the panel.
Moving forward
Attendees were encouraged to reach out to their representatives at every level to not only address energy issues facing the state, but to help set regulations for prospective data centers looking to move into the area. Likewise, the panel suggested reaching out to municipalities to ask if a series of ordinances or zoning regulations have been reviewed or implemented.
“The primary thing is convincing politicians that [these are] issues they should care about — that this is actually an issue that voters are going to hold them responsible for,” Hopper said.
Following the discussion, Jeremy Benscoter said he enjoyed the topics the panel covered.
The Hunlock Creek resident came to learn about rising energy costs and the potential addition of data centers to the area. Benscoter, who is running to represent Pennsylvania’s 117th Legislative District, said he is interested in learning what can be done to lower utility costs and how pending data centers could impact costs in his region.
“Energy costs right now are crazy,” he said. “I came here to learn as much as I could. This is obviously a complex topic.”