Map reveals complex nature of clean energy tax credits

(The Center Square) – Dozens of organizations across Pennsylvania have taken advantage of tax credits and rebates provided by the federal infrastructure bill to fund projects that support renewable energy and climate resiliency.

PennEnvironment and Evergreen Collaborative, both environmental organizations who operate in the commonwealth, have created an interactive map to see which companies have benefited from the tax dollars and the fiscal and environmental impact they’re expected to make.

The map illustrates a range of projects in every region of the state, including rural areas whose representatives are known for backing the coal industry and eschewing climate concerns. They include various types of clean and renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable agriculture, environmental cleanup, and tree planting efforts. Solar projects appear most prominently.

“Federal investments are fueling growth in local industries, creating new jobs, and laying the groundwork for long-term prosperity,” said Julia Kortrey, Deputy State Policy Director of Evergreen Collaborative. “Beyond benefiting workers and families, they’re positioning Pennsylvania as a more competitive, affordable and sustainable force in the global economy. Pennsylvanians deserve an affordable, clean energy future, and these funds are making that future a reality.”

Several fall into Senate District 23, home of Republican Sen. Gene Yaw, who was this year reappointed chairman of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee. Manufacturer Prysmian is one example, using clean energy credits to expand its Williamsport manufacturing facility to produce equipment needed to maintain the region’s power grid.

Yaw, as well as Gov. Josh Shapiro himself, have billed themselves as energy neutral. Though it’s the former’s viewpoint that distinguishes him within his own party. The two have been aligned on building out Pennsylvania as a hydrogen hub, and investing into carbon capture and sequestration.

“As a legislator, I take very seriously my role in advancing measures that I believe will unleash Pennsylvania’s energy potential while improving our environment and protecting it for future generations,” said Yaw on the appointment.

In this case, it’s federal tax law that threatens the future of projects like the ones featured on the policy center’s maps. The credits offered are currently facing the knife from lawmakers who hope to roll back Biden-era climate protections during the current budget process.

It’s a move that many have balked at. A March letter to the House Ways and Means Committee from 21 Republicans, including Pennsylvania’s Republican Rep. Ryan Mackenzie of Allentown, asked that changes to the tax code “be conducted in a targeted and pragmatic fashion that promotes conference priorities without undoing current and future private sector investments which will continue to increase domestic manufacturing, promote energy innovation, and keep utility costs down.”

They warned that upending the current tax structure could lead to increased utility bill prices for ratepayers “the very next day.”

“As energy demand continues to skyrocket, any modifications that inhibit our ability to deploy new energy production risk sparking an energy crisis in our country, resulting in drastically higher power bills for American families,” they wrote.

Critics argue that clean energy resources can’t meet the growing demands on the power grid – most of which comes from data centers, which can use as much electricity as a small city.

The reality of such has encouraged an awakening of formerly unprofitable “legacy” resources, like nuclear power and shuttered coal facilities.

Near the capitol city of Harrisburg, Constellation Energy announced that Microsoft will buy 835 megawatts of energy from the shuttered Three Mile Island to power the company’s data centers spread throughout PJM, a regional power grid that serves 65 million people in 12 states and the District of Columbia. Doing so will keep the plant operational through 2054.

TMI, located in Londonderry Township, Pa., made global headlines when its second nuclear reactor partially melted down in 1979. The facility’s first reactor remained operational and powered 800,000 homes for another 40 years.

Constellation says the new facility will provide 3,400 direct and indirect jobs and generate $3 billion in state and federal taxes.

“This is a valuable opportunity to invest in clean, carbon-free and affordable power – on the heels of the hottest year in Earth’s history,” said state Rep. Tom Mehaffie, R-Hershey. “This will transform the local economy and presents a rare opportunity to power our economy with reliable clean energy that we can count on.”

Mehaffie has been vocal about restoring TMI’s generating capabilities as the state ramps up efforts to decarbonize its power sector. Shapiro has proposed to require 35% clean energy in the state, nuclear makes up most of that — 32% in 2022.

And in April, officials announced that the site of Pennsylvania’s largest coal-fired power plant, demolished a month earlier, is set to be transformed into the largest natural-gas powered data center campus in the country.

The $10 billion project by Homer City Redevelopment, HCR, and its partner Kiewit Power Constructors Co. is the largest capital investment in Pennsylvania’s history and is designed to support the surging demands of artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.

Located on 3,200 acres, 50 miles east of Pittsburgh, and within 300 miles of major metropolitan areas in the region, the campus will supply power to thousands of homes on the local grid while also supporting multiple large data center customers.

According to the company’s website, barring issues such as regulatory processes, labor availability and weather influences, they expect to begin construction this year and be producing power by 2027.