The internet, AI, electric vehicles, the need for air conditioning. Demands for electricity are expected to rise sharply. Here, four people or groups take the subject on, and the Sierra Club weighs in on PA governor Josh Shapiro’s own plan. 

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Sierra Club applauds the Lightning Plan

HARRISBURG, PA — Recently, a package of six bills was introduced in the Pennsylvania General Assembly. The package would implement the Lightning Plan that Gov. Josh Shapiro unveiled in January.

The package includes policies to accelerate renewable energy development, reduce energy waste, limit climate-disrupting pollution and incentivize clean manufacturing.

Over 21 percent of the nation’s electricity comes from renewable sources, and that share is growing every year. Unfortunately, Pennsylvania lags seriously behind in this transition, the Sierra Club wrote, adding that the state’s current clean energy standards require a mere eight percent of the state’s electricity to come from clean sources. 

A critically important piece of the Lightning Plan is the Pennsylvania Reliable Energy Sustainability Standard (PRESS), which would raise those standards to 35 percent by 2035 and 50 percent by 2050. 

Getting more diverse clean energy on the grid will not only improve our air and water quality and protect our climate and public health, but it will also spur innovation in energy technologies and strengthen our economy by creating jobs and making energy more affordable for businesses and industry, the Sierra Club wrote.

Jen Quinn, legislative and political director of the Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter, added, “Gov. Shapiro’s Lightning Plan is a sensible yet ambitious plan that will improve grid reliability, stabilize consumer prices and allow Pennsylvania to continue its role as a leader in energy production. It’s also the most significant energy policy to be introduced in decades.

“Demand for electricity has been skyrocketing, driven mostly by the proliferation of AI data centers, and prices have followed suit. Meanwhile, an over-reliance on gas-fired power plants and an increasing frequency of climate change-driven extreme weather events threaten the reliability of our grid. As Gov. Shapiro has said many times, ‘Doing nothing is not an option.’ We agree and look forward to supporting Gov. Shapiro’s continued leadership to advance this energy plan through the legislature.”