Opinion: Solar power can propel Pa. towards meeting energy demands

In 2025, already soaring electricity costs are predicted to surge up to an additional 29%. Larger consumers of energy such as municipalities, businesses and other organizations could see their bills jump by thousands to tens of thousands of dollars. And if Gov. Shapiro had not recently filed a complaint against PJM (our electric grid operator), things could have been even worse.

This hike is due to a combination of factors, perhaps the largest of which is increased demand on our power lines, with an inordinate amount of energy being used by big data centers, crypto mines and other high-tech operations. However, while energy demand is going up, supply has stayed largely the same, despite a queue of hundreds of large-scale energy projects waiting to be plugged into the region’s electrical grid. In a nutshell, the delay is happening because the grid operator, PJM, has an outdated approval process that is holding everything up.

It doesn’t help that about 60% of Pennsylvania’s electricity is currently generated from natural gas, which is expensive and subject to volatile price surges that are subject to worldwide market and unpredictable geopolitical forces. Only about 3% to 5% comes from cheaper, home-grown clean energy sources such as solar, wind, and hydropower. About 95%of large-scale projects stuck in PJM’s queue are solar, wind, energy storage, or other renewable energy sources. We could meet rising energy demand if these projects would be granted permission to move forward. Incidentally, solar energy is now the least expensive form of electricity, with many property owners going solar with no money down — and going on to save big money on their electric bills.

In addition, we could be putting smaller solar and storage projects online to generate more electricity onsite at municipal facilities, schools, businesses and homes, if the state’s policies would encourage it.

Take what’s going on in California, for example. One analysis found that since California launched its Million Solar Roofs initiative in 2006, distributed solar displaced about 15,000 megawatts of peak load compared with state forecasts from that time. Peak load — the maximum amount of power needed to serve every customer on the grid — is a key determinant of how much utilities have to spend on their power grids and on purchasing expensive peak energy resources.

As the analysis explains, utilities in California earn back the cost of the energy they purchase — and earn a guaranteed rate of profit on the capital investments they make — through the rates they charge their customers. Many of those costs are spread out for years or even decades after they’re incurred, which means that money saved in not buying energy or building grid infrastructure years ago (thanks to smaller rooftop solar systems) translates into lower rates today.

As such, it’s been estimated that distributed solar — also known as the solar sitting on top of individual property owners’ roofs — has saved all California ratepayers about $2.17 billion in energy costs since 2006.

In Pennsylvania, there is no doubt that an energy reckoning is looming. While we wait for PJM to accelerate the queue of larger-scale energy projects to power our grid, keep in mind that energy consumers of all sizes can forge ahead by taking power into their own hands through solar, saving themselves and other Pennsylvanians a whole lot of money in the meantime.

Join the thousands of Pennsylvanians who pay next-to-nothing for energy every month and make 2025 the year you discover real energy independence. And consider telling your Congress representatives to support the federal solar tax credits as well as other responsible energy policies. The energy investment tax credits are currently available until 2032 before they begin to reduce and expire completely in 2035; however, the tax credits may be in jeopardy under the new Congress. Free resources on how to reach out to your Congress representatives and more are available on the PA Solar Center website.

It’s more urgent now more than ever that Congress preserve the tax credits for going solar so that we can get as much energy on the grid as soon as possible.

This is a contributed opinion column. Sharon Pillar is the founder and executive director of the Pennsylvania Solar Center, a 501c3 nonprofit organization with the mission to expand the benefits of solar to all Pennsylvanians. The views expressed in this piece are those of its individual author(s), and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of this publication. Do you have a perspective to share? Learn more about how we handle guest opinion submissions at themorningcall.com/opinions.