Goal: To influence the implementation of Pennsylvania’s 1996 law for restructuring the state’s electric utility industry to protect consumers and the environment.
The Heinz Endowments invested in a partnership aimed at giving environmental advocates an effective voice in the debate about electric utility restructuring in Pennsylvania. In 1996, the state legislature passed the Electricity Generation Customer Choice and Competition Act which fundamentally altered an industry that produces about 40% of the state’s air pollution.
Nearly two-thirds of Pennsylvania’s electricity has come from cheap and outdated coal-fired plants, the rest from nuclear power, with large cost overruns that were passed on to consumers. Since the law will encourage consumers to purchase electricity from the cheapest generating plants, without regard to pollution and other externalities, its environmental impacts could be quite negative.
Since many details of the new regulatory regime not yet defined, the Heinz Endowments assembled a group of grantees to develop a proactive approach (public education, litigation and regulatory intervention, market development of cleaner energy generation) to steer utility restructuring toward environmental and consumer protection.
The new deregulated marketplace is emerging with programs for cleaner energy and better consumer and environmental protections. One result of grantees’ intervention: electricity customers’ share of the utilities’ bad investments has dropped, as have rates.
Additionally, energy efficiency services have been increased to meet the needs of more low-and moderate-income families. A Sustainable Energy Development fund has been created that will assure growth of this industry and increase the availability of clean energy. The combined effort has saved Pennsylvania’s residential electricity customers over $7 billion in 18 months.
Client: The Heinz Endowments and Pennsylvania Resources Council, Inc..
TerrAqua’s role: Organize diverse nonprofit organizations to form the Pennsylvania Campaign for Clean, Affordable Energy; facilitate their dialogue and meetings.