'Affordability First' Is Flipping the Script on Energy Policy

In early November, U.S. Rep. Troy Balderson’s (R-Ohio) simple Affordable, Reliable, and Clean Energy Security Act underscored the titanic shift in the public psyche over the past decade. Note, it’s neither the “Clean and Reliable Act” nor the “Clean and Affordable Act.” Instead, affordability gets top billing.

Looking at American households, residential electricity rates alone rose by 6% over the last three months.

And this isn’t a recent phenomenon. The National Center for Energy Analytics points out that, since the beginning of 2010, the average change in residential electric prices increased by 63%.

What’s driving these double-digit increases? Customers are now experiencing the full impact of decades of divestment from reliable energy generation in favor of intermittent and costly substitutes. For decades, states have engaged in a green-tinted race to the bottom, competing over clean-energy credentials. States have increasingly imposed mandates for renewable energy and insisted that intermittent power from the sun and the wind was the most affordable option.

Faced with no heat in the depths of winter or air conditioning in the height of summer, it didn’t take long for the consensus on clean and green to shift to reliable and affordable.

But rather than present a realistic correction, several elected leaders opted to scapegoat. Last December, five governors sued PJM Interconnection, claiming the grid operator failed to take steps to bring down prices. However, the prices these governors railed against were the predictable result of supply shortages stemming from their misguided policies, such as enforcing costly climate-related mandates and prematurely closing fossil fuel power plants.

Even blue-state governors have reversed course on the “clean is king” myth. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul approved a new gas pipeline through her state “to ensure grid reliability and affordability.” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has touted lower costs as a major goal of the latest energy reform bill that ends the state’s moratorium on new nuclear generation. Energy affordability was the leading kitchen-table issue for the recent gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey — though the governors-elect’s policies are suspect.

Clean and green is no longer the consensus as residents begin to question when the rising rates will end.

In Pennsylvania, the pivot away from carbon taxes to spur clean energy was clear when the recent state budget eliminated the years-long effort to enter the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), the multistate compact that caps emissions from power producers and sells “allowances” to them.

But the cap-and-trade scheme proved to be politically untenable. Economic forecasts showed that RGGI would increase electricity bills by 30%. Also, even with RGGI, forecasts showed increased carbon emissions across the PJM grid. Despite his best efforts to keep RGGI alive, Gov. Josh Shapiro relented, agreeing to withdraw his appeal to a lower court’s ruling that rightly stated RGGI was an unconstitutional tax—a noteworthy first for any state considering such a compact.

Clean is no longer top of mind, but affordability is. Poll after poll reveals a growing concern among voters about their ability to afford their utility bills.

Fortunately, Pennsylvania can show the way. In fact, the Keystone State pulled off the unimaginable: It cut emissions while also increasing electricity generation. Pennsylvania’s Independent Fiscal Office found that, from 2019 to 2024, the commonwealth removed seven million metric tons of carbon emissions — roughly the same amount cut by its RGGI neighbor to the east, New Jersey. However, during the same period, New Jersey’s electricity generation decreased by 13% while Pennsylvania’s increased by 5%.

With numbers like that, who needs RGGI?

Pennsylvania demonstrates that “affordability” and “clean” aren’t mutually exclusive terms. It is possible to have the best of both worlds.

And that’s what legislation like the Affordable, Reliable, and Clean Energy Security Act accomplishes: It reflects the voters’ desire to balance cost with reliability and environmental stewardship. Lucky for us, that’s precisely what markets can do.

Elizabeth Stelle is the Vice President of Policy of the Commonwealth Foundation, Pennsylvania’s free-market think tank. Twitter/X: @ElizabethBryan