By Commonwealth News Release
Harrisburg, PA – Yesterday, Governor Josh Shapiro filed a petition(opens in a new tab) with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) to intervene in a proceeding challenging PPL Electric Utilities’ current rate structure, a crucial action to help protect Pennsylvania electricity customers from rising costs and reliability risks associated with data center development in the Commonwealth. The petition marks the first time in at least 15 years that a governor has intervened in a PUC proceeding.
The Governor’s petition supports a complaint filed(opens in a new tab) by the Pennsylvania Office of Consumer Advocate (OCA), which argues that PPL’s current rates, service classifications, and procedures do not adequately protect existing customers from paying costs caused by large data centers or from potential outages, especially as large data centers increase electricity demand. OCA is asking the PUC to require PPL to revise its rates and rules to address these concerns.
“Pennsylvanians should not be left paying higher electric bills because of data center developers,” said Governor Shapiro. “As these projects bring new demand to our electric grid, we must make sure the companies driving those costs pay their fair share and that families, small businesses, and Pennsylvania employers can continue to afford their utility bills while counting on reliable electricity. This is yet another action my Administration is taking to protect consumers and hold data center developers accountable.”
Through this petition, Governor Shapiro is seeking formal party status in the PUC proceeding, which would allow his Administration to present evidence, make legal arguments, and participate directly in the case. The Administration is joining the case to advocate for stronger protections that ensure data centers pay for the electric system costs they cause and that existing customers are protected from reliability risks caused by data centers.
Among other measures, the Governor will advocate for PPL to establish a separate customer class for large data centers and to allocate costs caused by their electricity demand to that data center class. The petition also supports stronger requirements for data center-related transmission upgrades, costs associated with regional electricity reliability and resource adequacy programs, and safeguards that protect existing customers if electricity supply cannot meet demand.
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