Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives this week passed a bill barring municipalities from adopting measures that restrict the use of natural gas or other energy sources.
The House approved the legislation by a vote of 117 to 83, with the Republican majority almost entirely supportive. The bill originated in the State Senate, having passed that chamber last October by a vote of 35 to 15. It awaits Democratic Governor Tom Wolf’s signature or veto.
“The record is clear – mandates and bans result in higher costs and slower environmental progress than letting families and businesses make use of the energy resource that best fits their needs,” Kevin Sunday, government affairs director at the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, said in a statement. “On behalf of the PA Chamber, we applaud the legislature for keeping up the momentum on this important issue.”
State Senator Gene Yaw (R-Williamsport) said he sponsored the bill in response to some American cities like Berkeley and San Francisco, California; Seattle, Washington, and Denver, Colorado, banning the flow of natural gas to new buildings.
“Protecting energy choices for consumers means that residents can pursue ‘cleaner’ electricity sources if they want to or can afford to, without punishing those who don’t have the option,” he reasoned.
Only nine of the State House’s 90 Democrats voted for Yaw’s legislation and its prospects of getting Wolf’s approval seem slim. Progressive environmental groups such as PennEnvironment and the Sierra Club, as well as numerous Democrat-run city governments, including Philadelphia’s, oppose the bill.
Rep. Rob Freeman (D-Easton) spoke to House colleagues against the legislation, emphasizing that the right to directly regulate energy utilities rests with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) and not with cities, townships or boroughs.
“This legislation that we have before us has been promoted largely by the gas industry in response to actions that have been taken in other states where municipalities have different grants of authority,” Freeman said. “Here in Pennsylvania, municipalities do not regulate utilities. That is a matter for the PUC.”
The representative nonetheless expressed concern with what he deemed the legislation’s “broad and vague” language. He said the text could be interpreted to prevent localities from incentivizing the use of renewable energy sources and adopting climate change mitigation policies. Energy industry entities, he suggested, could sue to nullify such measures.
Yaw has stipulated that the PUC is the sole regulatory authority when it comes to Pennsylvanian’s sources of electricity. In his initial memorandum describing his legislation, he insisted that the General Assembly should act to prevent a “potential scenario” in which the commission reposes that power to localities and thus creates “an unworkable patchwork of restrictions.”
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Bradley Vasoli is managing editor of The Pennsylvania Daily Star. Follow Brad on Twitter at @BVasoli. Email tips to [email protected].
