March 6, 2025
All other big gas producers, as well as renewable states, are cashing in
“Work underway at $1.2B Trumbull Energy Center” reads the Ohio headline trumpeting the construction of a new natural gas-fueled power plant near Lordstown.1
Don’t expect to see anything like that in the Pittsburgh media anytime soon. Natural gas power plants are still being built in the U.S.
Just not here.
Pennsylvania is the #2 producer of natural gas in the United States, accounting for roughly 20% of the country’s total.2 All of the country’s top natural gas producing states have gas power plants under development – except for Pennsylvania.
And that has potentially cost the Commonwealth billions of dollars in construction and investment, as well as the associated jobs.
Not a single utility-scale natural gas project has been started in Pennsylvania since then-Gov. Wolf pushed the state into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in 2019, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.3
Twenty-two states, including Ohio and West Virginia, have natural gas power plants (75 megawatts or larger) under construction or in various stages of development.
But none are planned for any of the 11 states that belong to RGGI, which forces generators to pay a fee for electricity generated from fossil fuels based on the carbon they emit.
This dynamic was predicted by Gov. Wolf’s own Department of Environmental Protection four years ago when it analyzed the environmental impact of Pennsylvania joining RGGI. The DEP study showed that the action would not affect total carbon emissions in the PJM Interconnection territory which includes Pennsylvania and a dozen nearby states.4 Fossil-fuel generators would simply expand operations in other states not subject to the RGGI carbon tax, such as Ohio and WV.
But natural gas generation is also popular in states that are expanding wind and solar.
Texas has more utility-scale wind and solar plants than any other state, representing nearly a quarter of the country’s total capacity. It is also building more natural gas power plants than any other state, with 12 projects representing nearly $10 billion in construction costs under development.5
Four of the six states with the most wind and solar (TX, OK, FL, IL) have natural gas plants in development, representing as much as $13.4 billion in investment.
The last natural gas power plant to open in Pennsylvania was the Hill Top Energy Center in Greene County in 2021. It was under development for years before Gov. Wolf had Pennsylvania join RGGI.
Since then, Ohio has opened three gas power plants and a fourth, the one near Lordstown, is scheduled to open next year.
Meanwhile, developers pulled the plug on two proposed plants in Pennsylvania – the Allegheny Energy Center proposed for Elizabeth Township6 and the Renovo Energy Center north of State College.7
The proposed energy policies under development by the Shapiro administration seem to be a mixed bag in terms stimulating new natural gas power plants. A state board in control of energy project siting (the proposed Reliable Energy Siting and Electric Transition Board) could make it faster and easier to build power plants, the pipelines needed to provide them with gas, and any transmission lines needed to carry the power to market. And changes to the PA EDGE tax credit program could potentially provide financial support for natural gas plants.8
At the same time, the state is appealing a court order negating Pennsylvania’s entry into RGGI, with a decision expected from the PA Supreme Court imminently. And Gov. Shapiro has proposed a cap-and-invest program (PA Climate Emissions Reduction Act) that would tax fossil-fuel generation and rebate the money to Pennsylvania ratepayers.
The General Assembly will be considering these proposals, and others, in the upcoming months.
Ken Zapinski
412-352-4364; ken@pghworks.com
