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Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Scott Martin said the idea of Pennsylvania participating in RGGI was wrong from the beginning. PHOTO/FILE
RGGI electricity tax repeal approved by Pa. Senate
Ed Gruver//September 23, 2024//
Listen to this articleThe Pennsylvania Senate approved legislation to repeal the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) carbon tax enacted through executive order in 2019 by then Gov. Tom Wolf‘s Administration.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Scott Martin, R-Berks/Lancaster was joined in the announcement by Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland; Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman, R- Armstrong/Indiana/Jefferson/Westmoreland; and Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee Chair Gene Yaw, R-Bradford/Lycoming/Sullivan/Tioga/Union.
Senate Bill 1058, introduced by Yaw, moves to the House of Representatives.
“We face tremendous challenges in the years ahead to ensure our electricity grid is reliable and energy is affordable for Pennsylvanians. RGGI makes it much harder for us to achieve both these goals,” Martin said in a statement. “The idea of Pennsylvania participating in this multi-state electricity tax scheme was wrong from the beginning, and it’s a mistake we need to remedy so our state can have a prosperous future.”
RGGI is a partnership between 11 Northeastern and mid-Atlantic states. States participating in the program set a regional cap on CO2 emissions from electric power plants.
Each state has its CO2 allowance budget, which plants must purchase from in an equal amount to the CO2 they emit.
A press release from Martin’s office stated that the multi-state compact RGGI would “increase electricity rates for consumers, cut energy and manufacturing jobs and lead to the closure of Pennsylvania power plants. No new investments in baseload generation have come to Pennsylvania in the five years since the Wolf administration attempted to enter the state into RGGI.”
The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled in 2023 that Pennsylvania’s entrance into RGGI may be achieved through legislation enacted by the General Assembly, but not by the Department of Environmental Protection and the Environmental Quality Board.
Gov. Josh Shapiro’s appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court is pending.
