Opinion: Vision of building more domestic energy is lost in bill before Congress

June 6, 2025
Reading Eagle

By Sharon Pillar, Founder and Executive Director of the PA Solar Center

President Donald Trump has stated that he seeks to lower energy costs for consumers by creating more energy right here in the great U.S.A in an effort to boost the economy, create jobs and make life affordable again. I agree with that and applaud him for this vision.

Unfortunately, the House of Representatives passed a bill, now before the Senate, that directly conflicts with this goal. It would greatly hinder domestic energy growth.

One of the main reasons energy prices are so high right now (and why they jumped a further 15% on June 1 across the state) is largely because demand has skyrocketed due to the enormous amount of power required to launch artificial intelligence, data centers and cryptocurrency mining.

The United States has a diverse mix of energy sources, with electricity produced primarily from natural gas (43%), nuclear (18%), renewables such as hydropower, wind, and solar (21%), and coal (16%). This all-of-the-above energy mix is important to maintain; but we clearly need to add more energy to the grid to help meet rising demand.

However, energy companies need to request permission to build more capacity from the regional electrical grid operator, PJM. That organization is responsible for a grid serving 13 states and Washington, D.C. Very few providers of natural gas or other conventional energy sources are asking for permission because investors see the future of energy largely in renewables and storage, which are more economical to build.

Most large power plants that have requested permission to build are in fact solar, wind and storage facilities. In 2024, solar and wind accounted for about 90% of new capacity builds.

So the answer to lowering energy costs lies in adding more reliable, cheap, domestic energy sources to our power grid, like solar, wind and battery storage. Renewables and storage have not only achieved the technological advances needed to assist our power grid in running reliably, but the business infrastructure has already been put in place by the visionary leaders of the energy industry. In fact, many utility-scale renewable systems are ready to start construction and are simply waiting for PJM to provide permission for them to do so.

It is quicker to install on-site solar on rooftops to power homes, businesses, schools, municipalities, faith communities and farms. They can bypass the many years of waiting for permission from PJM, as they simply need to connect into the local utility’s distribution grid. There are more than 60,000 of these smaller systems in Pennsylvania, and there is an increasing interest from the public to go solar because doing so helps lower electricity bills and produce stable, predictable energy prices for 30 years or more.

These smaller systems also help our state meet growing energy demand. They encourage manufacturers to hire more workers, schools to save teacher salaries and farms to keep operating. And renewables pair well with other sources in our existing energy mix, because solar works best in the summer when electricity demand is at its highest, on hot, summer days with air conditioners running full force. Because of this, solar helps to lower the price of electricity for all Pennsylvanians over the course of the year.

Unfortunately, the House’s bill would end residential and commercial renewable energy tax credits almost immediately, and if it is signed into law, the results would be disastrous for Pennsylvania.

Not only would electric rates continue to skyrocket, but more than 12,000 Pennsylvanian jobs in the renewables industry would be put at risk, as would the billions of dollars in private investment pledged to construct solar systems across the state. And farms, businesses, municipalities, schools and houses of worship that could typically save tens of thousands a year in energy costs by going solar would no longer be eligible for renewable energy tax benefits that would otherwise help them take power into their own hands and become energy independent.

We need to keep adding more domestic energy, not less. Tell your senators to do everything they can to fix the House’s version of the bill and keep these renewable energy tax incentives intact. The future of energy reliability — and affordability — depends on it.