Pennsylvania’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act, known as the AEPS, mandates that our electric utilities must procure energy from politically favored sources.  The AEPS picks winners and losers in the energy space, and the “winners” selected are more expensive and less reliable forms of energy.
 
The Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards have imposed needless costs on Pennsylvania ratepayers by exponentially increasing electricity bills. Estimates indicate that Pennsylvania families and businesses have paid more than $3.3 billion in these “alternative energy” mandates.
 
While expensive mandates for “alternative energy” are being imposed, our grid has also become less reliable due to these standards. We very clearly do not have an adequate supply of baseload energy to keep our lights on in the years ahead.  This is pushing our region toward a future of brownouts, blackouts, and higher energy costs. The General Assembly must make sure that our utilities procure baseload power from reliable and affordable sources that will be able to continuously power our grid and keep the lights on.
 
My legislation will amend and rewrite the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards to become the Affordable Energy Portfolio Standards Act, which will make common sense adjustments.  These standards will create predictability in our energy markets, create sustainable and reliable baseload power, and most importantly, save our residents and small businesses significant money on their electric bills. These standards will ensure that our grid is powered by energy that we can rely on instead of intermittent energy sources that will fail when we most need them.  Please join me in sponsoring this important legislation.