Soon, I will introduce legislation to promote responsible solar development and siting across Pennsylvania while addressing growing concerns about how certain solar projects are influencing electricity markets and raising rates on electric bills for small business ratepayers.
 
Currently, projects commonly referred to as “merchant generators” are using net metering, a tool designed to financially reward consumers who generate their own electricity, to build oversized systems with no meaningful on-site energy use. Utilities are required to buy the extra electricity these projects send to the grid at prices that are often higher than what it would normally cost to buy power wholesale. Those added costs are then passed along to other customers within the small commercial utility customer class, leading to higher electric bills for small businesses that rely on standard default electric service.
 
The PA Public Utility Commission has urged the General Assembly to act, citing net-metered projects that produce hundreds of times more electricity than they use and generate up to $500,000 per year per account. According to the PUC’s 2023 AEPS Report, these projects have shifted over $100 million in costs onto other electric customers, with that number expected to grow significantly in future years. The Commission warned lawmakers during a March 2025 public hearing that this trend will continue unless the law is updated to place reasonable limits on these practices.
 
My legislation will restore balance by ensuring net metering applies to customer-generators with real on-site demand. It also supports a smarter approach to renewable energy development in Pennsylvania by preserving compensation through 2050 for projects built on underutilized and low-impact sites, including warehouses, brownfields, capped landfills, parking canopies, and former coal plant properties.
 
By prioritizing these preferred sites, we can unlock the large-scale potential of warehouse rooftops for solar energy, helping reduce sprawl, protect green space and farmland, and bring long-term energy savings to businesses and communities.
 
This effort will help stabilize default electric rates for small business customers, preserve net metering for those it was meant to serve, and support smart solar investment in locations where it makes the most sense.
 
Please join me in co-sponsoring this legislation.