Shortly, I will introduce a bill protecting our constituents from price hikes due to data center energy and infrastructure requirements, lower electricity costs for consumers, and super charge our state’s energy economy by enacting the Pennsylvania Ratepayer Protection Act. The components of the bill deliver on specific agreements recently signed by Governor Shapiro and President Trump.
“Statement of Principles Regarding PJM”
In January of this year, the President hosted a meeting with the thirteen governors of the PJM states, including the Governor of Pennsylvania. From that meeting came the “Statement of Principles Regarding PJM,” a set of seven agreed-to terms addressing the escalating electricity costs of PJM ratepayers caused mainly by the capacity market and the uncertainty about future electricity supply. That uncertainty derives from anticipated huge load joining the PJM grid from data centers and further electrification. The electricity market has been relatively flat in terms of demand and new supply for years. The failure to meet expected new demand with new generation supply has caused the capacity market to escalate many times over in recent auctions.
The agreement dealt with the conduct of the capacity market under these new conditions. But more importantly, it also addressed the expected costs of building and connecting new electricity generation for hyper-scale data centers. The agreement was signed by the Secretary of Energy and the Secretary of Interior (representing the White House National Energy Dominance Council) and each of the thirteen governors, including the Governor of Pennsylvania.
Ratepayer Protection Pledge
On March 4, 2026, the President executed the Ratepayer Protection Pledge (by way of proclamation) between the administration and the hyper-scale AI companies (for example, META, Google, and X-AI). That agreement calls for hyper-scale data centers to Bring Their Own Generation to take care of their own electricity needs and also to Pay Their Own Way for any grid improvements needed in building data centers. The message was simple: if you are going to build massive data centers, you must build the needed electricity and infrastructure to support them.
Pennsylvania Ratepayer Protection Act
The complication with the PJM Principles and the Ratepayer Protection Pledge is that most of these requirements are functions of state law. That is why the documents are expressed as principles and pledges rather than firm law.
That means we must codify these provisions in our Commonwealth utility laws. In fact, by signing the “Statement of Principles Regarding PJM,” the Governor obligated the Commonwealth in the last principle to “use all available authorities” to ensure that the Public Utility Commission (PUC) undertakes rulemaking to effectuate the agreements. The PUC may not act without enabling legislation, which is the purpose here of the Pennsylvania Ratepayer Protection Act, consistent with the commitments made by the Governor in the PJM agreement.
I am introducing legislation which codify certain elements of the agreement and also to effectuate immediate price reductions for Pennsylvania ratepayers. My bill will achieve the following:
1. Codify the Ratepayer Protection Pledge in state law;
2. Require hyper-scale data centers to Bring Their Own Generation; and
3. Implement Power Pricing Parity, which will require our local utilities to enter into long-term power purchase agreements now, before hyper-scale data centers buy more power available to consumers in the electricity market.
The Ratepayer Protection Pledge requires data center companies to pay their costs for building electricity infrastructure and connection entirely, so no costs hit Pennsylvania consumers. That system already exists in several states where hyper-scale data centers and hyper-scale generation have planned buildouts, meaning that is already the operating expectation of the data center business.
The second component is Bring Your Own Generation. Rather than drawing from the existing public grid, hyper-scale data centers are expected to construct their own electricity generation facilities (or restart dormant facilities, as is the case with TMI). By forcing hyper-scale data centers to provide their own electricity, not only would we no longer compete with them for a limited power supply, but they will also certainly produce more than they need. That means the pendulum of available supply swings the other direction: prices will fall substantially.
Hyper-scale data centers have recently announced long-term power purchase agreements with Pennsylvania merchant generators. That puts our ratepayers into immediate competition for limited resources. Power Pricing Parity puts ratepayers on an immediate equal footing in the marketplace. This third component requires our public electric utilities to enter into long-term power purchase agreements for the benefit of their customers. That means ratepayers also get the benefit of price mitigation and guaranteed power supply. (To be certain, our statutes currently permit these agreements, but do not require them. As a result, they have not been used; this bill would compel it.)
The outcome of this three-prong approach will be an immediate price reduction. The combination of Pay Your Own Way, Bring Your Own Generation and Power Price Parity will change the calculation of forecasted electricity needs versus electricity supply avenues in PJM almost immediately.
I ask for your support for a plan which brings (1) immediate relief for Pennsylvania ratepayers and (2) executes upon several provisions of the Statement of Principles Regarding PJM agreed to the Governor.