Energy Policy is A Formula for Expensive Electricity: ALEC in The Delaware Valley Journal
Previous data showed that states could have up to an 11 percent increase in electricity costs due to the implementation of an RPS alone.
The 3rd edition of The Energy Affordability Report by Joe Trotter, ALEC Energy, Environment, and Agriculture Task Force Director, was highlighted by Gordon Tomb in The Delaware Valley Journal breaking down the energy profile of Pennsylvania.
Currently, Pennsylvania’s electricity prices are in the middle of the pack. A report by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) found the commonwealth’s average price is 9.97 cents/kilowatt-hour—the 26th most expensive. ALEC based its state rankings on a weighted average electricity price drawn from the rates of four sectors: residential, industrial, commercial, and transportation.
Most of Pennsylvania’s neighboring states—including New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland, plus all six of the New England states—have higher energy prices. Obvious reasons exist for Pennsylvania’s favorable pricing position in the region. For one thing, the Keystone State has abundant coal and gas and substantial nuclear power assets, generating enough surplus electricity to make Pennsylvania the country’s top kilowatts exporter.
However, the report points to another reason: The 10 northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states with higher prices than Pennsylvania all have Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) and a carbon tax imposed through the multi-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).
Any one of these attempts at energy policy by the governor will hit consumer pocketbooks hard, according to the relationship shown between electricity prices and government mandates in the report. “Previous data showed that states could have up to an 11 percent increase in electricity costs due to the implementation of an RPS alone,” said ALEC.
The report continues: “In the 48 contiguous states, the 16 with the highest electricity prices all have an RPS in place, as do 18 of the highest-priced 20 states. Similarly, with the exception of Virginia, each of the states in the RGGI or another cap-and-trade program is within the 15 states with the highest prices of electricity.”