As Pennsylvanians’ energy bills continue to rise, data centers are playing a big role in driving up capacity prices, yet they contribute nothing to the programs that help residents, especially low-income households, afford their utility costs. By 2028, data centers are predicted to use more electricity than the states of California, New York, and Illinois combined.  
 

According to the PJM Independent Market Monitor, data center load growth is the primary reason for recent increases in capacity prices. If not for data centers, capacity prices would have been lower, leading to lower energy bills for Pennsylvania households.  
 

Rising energy bills mean that more and more people will need help keeping their lights and heat on. But commercial data centers – the entities causing energy bills to rise – do not pay into Pennsylvania’s customer assistance programs (CAP). Rather, the cost of these programs falls exclusively on residential customers, including the low-income customers most likely to need the assistance.   
 

I intend to introduce a package of bills that will require data centers to contribute to Pennsylvania’s universal service programs, such as CAP, and ensure data centers pay for the electric grid upgrades made for their benefit. Together, these changes would help mitigate the impact of the rising prices caused by data centers and lower utility costs for existing residential consumers.  
 

Please join me in co-sponsoring this important legislation.