Requiring electricity companies to publish maps of their systems could speed the addition of sustainable energy sources to the grid, state lawmakers heard Tuesday.

With the demand for power expected to rise sharply over the next decade and Pennsylvanians’ electricity bills already skyrocketing, the need for more generating capacity is clear, House Energy Committee Chairwoman Elizabeth Fiedler (D-Philadelphia) said.

Fast access to information about the grid would allow renewable energy developers to quickly assess sites and make the process of building new solar, wind and other renewable energy sources more efficient, she added. 

“Developers have told us over and over that it sometimes takes years, not just months, but years, for new energy projects to connect to our electric grid,” Fiedler said, noting that one Cambria County school district with plans for a solar array waited more than one year for the local electric utility to study whether it could connect.

“That’s just one step in a multi-step process for them to build a solar array. Given our energy crisis, that wait is simply too long,” Fiedler said.

An energy industry representative and some members of the committee, including the ranking Republican, Rep. Martin Causer (R-McKean), said they have concerns that publishing detailed information about electrical infrastructure could be a security risk and that utilities would pass the cost of the maps on to consumers. 

During a Q&A session with the presenters, Rep. Craig Williams (R-Delaware), who is a former utility company general counsel, noted the state had recently successfully pushed back against a requested rate increase for PECO, the gas and electric utility for Philadelphia and much of southeastern Pennsylvania. According to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office, higher rates would have increased average residential electric bills by roughly $20.08 per month and natural gas bills by approximately $14.52 per month beginning in 2027.

“When the legislature puts a new mandate on an electric distribution company in Pennsylvania … are those costs not immediately put into the next rate case?” he asked.

One Pennsylvania utility company estimates that about 10% of electric bills are attributable to public policy projects mandated by the government, said Danielle Jouenne, vice president and general counsel of the Energy Association of Pennsylvania, which represents regulated electric and natural gas companies in the commonwealth. 

“That’s not to diminish their value,” Jouenne said. “But we should recognize that they have an additive effect on our member utilities.”

Under House Bill 2429, introduced by Rep. Melissa Cerrato (D-Montgomery), electric distribution companies — the local utilities that deliver power to homes and businesses from the grid — would be required to publish hosting capacity maps on their websites for each service territory. 

The maps would be required to show feeder lines and nodes and be updated every two months to reflect additions or changes to the system. They would also be mandated to show the capacity in kilowatts available for new loads, planned upgrades, and other information including any restraints on the system.

Additionally, the bill would require power companies to publish annual reliability reports including the frequency and duration of outages and any customers or infrastructure with persistent reliability issues. 

The Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (PUC) would be responsible for enforcing the mandate and gathering feedback from the public to improve the maps.

Ceratto said many states, including neighboring New Jersey, New York and Ohio, already require capacity information to be published and many of the electric companies operating in Pennsylvania also operate in states with such requirements.

Without grid capacity information, developers waste time and money pursuing projects that face lengthy delays. For utility companies, the availability of detailed information to customers would mean fewer interconnection studies, she said.

Streamlining the process of connecting wind, solar and other renewable energy sources would help communities too, Cerrato said.

“When projects stall, less energy comes online. That puts pressure on supply, which can drive up costs for consumers. It also means missed opportunities for job creation and economic growth in our communities,” she said.

Sharon Pillar, executive director of the Pennsylvania Solar Center which provides consulting services to nonprofits, businesses and schools, said capacity maps are essential for siting distributed energy resources, which can also include low-impact hydroelectric and methane digester generation.

Pillar noted that solar energy is especially important during peaks in demand, the largest of which come during hot summer days when solar arrays are producing most efficiently. Adding more solar generation would reduce the need for costly fossil fuel-fired “peaking plants,” Pillar said.

Addressing concerns about security and cost, Pillar said 58 electricity companies or state agencies have published capacity maps in 26 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

The energy industry evaluates new legislation first to determine whether it helps meet their core missions of providing affordable and reliable energy, Danielle Jouenne, vice president and general counsel of the Energy Association of Pennsylvania. 

Jouenne said that while the bill aims to increase the amount of renewable energy on the grid and improve system reliability, she said the cost of implementing the requirements would fall to electricity ratepayers.

“Our members report that implementing these online maps cost utilities easily half a million dollars per service territory,” Jouenne said, noting the estimates came from utilities that have affiliates in other states where the maps are required.

Jouenne also warned that threats against electricity infrastructure are increasing. She pointed to foiled attacks on Baltimore Gas and Electric substations planned by a person with ties to neo-Nazi groups whose goal was to “completely destroy” the city, according to the FBI.

If the energy committee decides to move forward with capacity mapping, Jouenne said the association recommends allowing utilities to show capacity for new connections without showing details of the system. She  said PECO, which serves Philadelphia and its Pennsylvania suburbs, provides a map showing the availability of capacity as a color-coded grid.

Jouenne also said the association recommends that any changes to reliability reporting requirements go through the PUC rulemaking process to ensure that any new requirements promote reliability.