Gene Yaw : Yaw Encourages Feedback, Participation on Proposed RGGI Rulemaking

Proposal Would Drive Up Utility Bills, Force the Closure of PA Power Plants, Destroy Jobs and Diminish PA's Energy Competitiveness

HARRISBURG - A proposed rulemaking bringing Pennsylvania into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a consortium of Eastern states that impose a carbon tax on electricity production and require fossil fuel generators to purchase allowances, is now open for public comment, according to state Sen. Gene Yaw (R-23), Chairman of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

'RGGI is being labeled as a CO2 Budget Trading Program, but it's really just another tax scheme by the Wolf Administration - a tax scheme that seeks to eliminate fossil fuels, while driving up household electricity rates,' Sen. Yaw said. 'Let's be clear, without fossil fuels there is no 'green' energy. Anyone who thinks that windmills and solar panels miraculously appear on the mountainside clearly ignore and misunderstand the manufacturing process.'

Yaw is encouraging residents in the 23^rd Senatorial District and across Pennsylvania to review the proposal and participate in the public comment period on the rulemaking. A link to the proposed rulemaking is included here.

'As Chairman of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, I have convened several hearings on RGGI. The bottom line - there remains numerous unanswered questions to what joining RGGI would mean for electric ratepayers, lower income households, businesses and industry - and even the environment,' Yaw added.

Interested persons are invited to submit written comments and suggestions regarding the proposed rulemaking to the Environmental Quality Board (EQB) by January 14, 2021. Comments may be submitted to the EQB by accessing the Board's online comment system at http://www.ahs.dep.pa.gov/eComment or by e-mail to [e-mail]. A subject heading of the proposed rulemaking and a return name and address must be included in each transmission.

Comments may also be submitted to the EQB by mail or express mail. Written comments should be mailed to the Environmental Quality Board, P.O. Box 8477, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8477. Express mail should be sent to the Environmental Quality Board, Rachel Carson State Office Building, 16th Floor, 400 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101-2301.

In addition to written or submitted comments, the EQB has also scheduled ten virtual discussions on the topic. The hearings will be held as follows:

• December 8^th, 2020 9AM-12PM & 1PM-4PM
• December 9^th, 2020 1PM-4PM & 6PM-9PM
• December 10^th, 2020 1PM-4PM & 6PM-9PM
• December 11^th, 2020 9AM-12PM & 1PM-4PM
• December 14^th, 2020 1PM-4PM & 6PM-9PM

Persons wishing to present testimony at a hearing must contact Jennifer Swan for the Department and the Board, at [phone] or [e-mail] at least 24 hours in advance of the hearing to reserve a time to present testimony.

'From an energy perspective, Pennsylvania is the 'engine' powering the other RGGI states,' Sen. Yaw said. 'Joining RGGI would allow states like New York and New Jersey to dictate Pennsylvania's energy policy. As I said many times when the Governor issued this Executive Order, I have to pause when a plan is put forth that joins us into a compact with states that thumb their nose at Pennsylvania energy. New York and New Jersey have both banned new pipelines that would allow our natural gas to flow to large markets like New York City and Boston whose ratepayers currently have to rely on foreign imports from Russia to supply their gas needs. While New York officials boast about improved air quality, they fail to note that this is directly attributable to increased nuclear energy and natural gas use.'

CONTACT: Nick Troutman [phone]