Advanced Energy Perspectives

Pennsylvania has roughly 270,000 energy workers – nearly half are employed by companies in the advanced energy industry, including those generating solar power, manufacturing energy storage batteries, and helping Pennsylvanians save money by reducing energy waste. While Pennsylvania’s history is rooted in fossil fuels, its present and future is as an advanced energy leader.

Last week at the Pennsylvania State Capitol, Advanced Energy United was joined by state legislators and a coalition of stakeholders advocating for electric school buses and a bill that would allow more school districts in the state to buy them. Legislators experienced the benefits of electric school buses firsthand, riding along in one provided by Steelton-Highspire School District, which procured new buses with funding from the federal government for clean transportation.  

When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced and opened applications for a new school bus procurement funding program last fall, school districts from every corner of the country rushed to apply. Unfortunately, over 70 Pennsylvania districts from across the Commonwealth were waitlisted or deprioritized for funding from the nationwide Clean School Bus Program. There simply wasn’t enough funding set aside to meet the enthusiasm of school administrators for electric school buses in Pennsylvania.

Data is the lifeblood of a modern economy. Today, consumers are empowered with unprecedented data access in virtually all aspects of their lives. Yet the ability of utility customers to access their own energy usage data – and the means for them to easily share that data with the companies of their choice – is lagging. This is unfortunate, because making better use of energy usage data can provide a range of benefits, including achieving greater energy efficiency savings and smart energy management during times of peak electricity demand when costs are higher and the risks of power outages increase. That’s why we were surprised when the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) closed its investigation into how to enable this type of data access without taking any action. 

With 2022 more than halfway through, AEE returns with the latest edition of its biennial top utility regulatory trends roundup. Utility regulatory commissions across the country have been off to a busy start, navigating supply chain hurdles, inflationary pressures, extreme weather events, and the accelerated adoption of clean energy technologies. With PowerSuite, AEE’s policy tracking platform, we cut through the noise to provide insights on the trends shaping utility regulation this year and in years to come.

Note: some links in this post reference PUC filings and other documents in AEE's software platform, PowerSuite. Click here and sign up for a free trial. PowerSuite – policy tracking by policy professionals.