Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

We are in the midst of a rapidly changing climate, the effects of which are deeply felt in Pennsylvania. It is of utmost importance that we are proactive in implementing our clean and renewable energy goals. 
 
An intrinsic part of that process is a company known as PJM, our regional transmission organization (RTO), which is tasked with managing the regional electric grid, including ensuring grid reliability, maintaining the transmission system, and preparing for new energy sources in Pennsylvania and 12 other neighboring states. 
 
As the regulator of many of our energy policies, PJM has great power to impact our climate progress and utility rates. PJM operates a two-tiered voting system in which the members, electricity generators and utility companies, first vote on policies in the lower-level committees, where votes are held in private and in which one parent company gets a vote for itself and each of its subsidiaries.
 
These lower-level votes decide which policies get voted on in the upper level. Upper-level votes are sometimes public, but with lower-level votes being held in secret, the damage is often done before a policy is elevated to the upper-level.
 
Simply put, these companies shouldn’t be allowed to vote in secret when our health and the future of our world depends on it.
 
This forthcoming bill will require that any electric utility that is a member of PJM discloses to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission any recorded vote they make within that organization and a brief description for how that vote is in the public interest regardless of whether or not disclosure is required by the RTO. This bill is a companion to Rep. Rabb's HB2047 of 2023.

 

This bill was SB1163 last session and the co-sponsors were: Fontana, Kane, Kearney, Costa, Schwank, Muth, and Miller. 
 
Time is of the essence when it comes to our environment, please join us in supporting greater transparency and accountability.