Siting reform in Pennsylvania can help reduce your energy bills.
Utility bills are rising and Pennsylvania can’t build enough energy to keep up with increasing demand. But our governor and legislature have the power to build more, waste less, and keep costs down for families and businesses in the Commonwealth.
Pennsylvania Needs Siting Reform to Lower Bills
Pennsylvanians pay more for their energy than they should. Current siting and permitting laws are making it difficult to build much-needed energy infrastructure. With updated siting rules, we can get more power on the grid and keep energy bills at bay.
Families can’t keep up with rising energy costs. Electricity demand projected to increase 50% in the next five years, and utility residential rates increased 6% in 2026.
Fix the bottleneck. Commonsense statewide siting reform can unlock more generation faster, and at lower costs than we’re seeing today.
In annual savings per household if Pennsylvania passes statewide siting reform and energy storage procurement.
In system savings from battery storage under a 3.5 GW procurement — lower-cost power for the whole grid.
In savings per household by 2035 from storage procurement alone — before broader siting savings are counted.
Why now: increased electricity demand, PJM capacity pressure, and high utility bills have created urgency the Commonwealth cannot ignore.
Pennsylvania’s rapidly aging grid is carrying its newest demands
Pennsylvania’s electric grid was built for the previous century. Bills are high in part because the system overinvests in expensive plants and infrastructure to cover peak hours, while the fastest, cheapest resources — utility-scale clean energy and battery storage — wait behind local siting barriers and a congested PJM interconnection queue.
The fix: clear siting guidelines and guardrails that protect local interests while meeting Commonwealth needs faster interconnection for quickly deployable resources, and full use of existing wires through advanced transmission and grid-enhancing technologies.
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~5%of municipalities
Only about 5% of Pennsylvania municipalities currently have favorable siting laws for clean, utility-scale projects — the single largest source of delay, uncertainty, and added project cost that ratepayers ultimately absorb.
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3.5 GWstorage procurement
A 3.5 GW battery storage procurement is projected to deliver approximately $400 million in system savings — about $29 per household by 2035 — by delaying and avoiding new infrastructure buildout and shaving expensive peak-hour purchases from PJM.
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Peak loadcost drivers
Managing peak demand with energy storage means the Commonwealth buys only as much power as it needs from PJM — deferring or avoiding expensive grid buildout that lands on customer bills.
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1 utilitydeploying ATTs today
Today, only one Pennsylvania utility deploys advanced transmission technologies, and virtual power plants remain nascent. Aligning Public Utility Commission incentives would unlock capacity on existing lines at a fraction of the cost and time of new infrastructure.
Three moves, one year
Enact statewide siting reform
Establish clear statewide rules to align local governments’ interests with the needs of the Commonwealth.
- Replace the patchwork in which only ~5% of municipalities have favorable rules
- Create business certainty that lowers project costs before they reach ratepayers
- Cover utility-scale renewable generation and battery storage alike
Procure storage & speed interconnection
Authorize the 3.5 GW battery storage procurement and ensure quickly deployable resources move efficiently through PJM’s interconnection queue.
- Lock in ~$400M in system savings — about $29 per household by 2035
- Maximize surplus interconnection so new projects use existing grid capacity
- Value storage properly for the reliability and grid services it provides
Align the PUC to lock in savings
Direct the Public Utility Commission to rigorously evaluate utility investments through multi-year, integrated planning — ending the piecemeal approach that passes avoidable costs to ratepayers.
- Maximize advanced transmission, distribution, and grid-enhancing technologies statewide
- Stand up virtual power plant programs to cut peak-hour costs
- Require least-cost evaluation of non-wire alternatives in capital planning
Certainty in siting lowers project costs, faster interconnection delivers savings sooner, and aligned regulation makes those savings permanent.
Savings that reach every corner of the Commonwealth
Projects are already lowering costs in Pennsylvania communities today. Statewide rules let every region share in those savings.
Southeast · Lancaster County
The Ephrata Solar Project in Lancaster County already provides enough power to support 670 homes in the community — a working model of local generation holding down local costs.
Central PA · State Facilities
The Project to Utilize Light and Solar Energy (PULSE) will power nearly half of all state-owned buildings with seven large solar arrays — cutting the Commonwealth’s own utility spend.
Multi-County · Utility Scale
Cottontail Solar, developed across multiple Pennsylvania counties, is one of the state’s largest renewable installations — proof that utility-scale projects can be sited and built here when rules are workable.
Every Household · Statewide
The 3.5 GW storage procurement returns roughly $500 million in system savings — about $35 per household by 2035 — while broader siting reform can save consumers hundreds per year.
At the end of 2024, the advanced energy industry employed 146,200 Pennsylvanians — and grew 3% in a single year. Siting reform grows this workforce in every region.
How Pennsylvania leaders can make energy more affordable.
The new report from Synapse Economics makes the economic benefits clear, providing data and analysis to help Pennsylvania’s Governor and other decision-makers understand what’s at stake—and what a more affordable energy future could look like.
Full policy report · Prepared for the Governor of Pennsylvania · 2027 legislative briefing