Pointing to the Keystone State’s long history of innovation and abundance of resources, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro rolled out a slate of energy policy proposals he promised would spark the state’s energy sector, create jobs, and ultimately lower energy costs for consumers.
“Pennsylvania has long been a national energy leader, from Ben Franklin to today. But right now, we’re letting other states outcompete us, and we’re losing out on jobs, new investment, and innovation; that has to change,” Shapiro said during a press conference attended by a coalition of business leaders, union officials, and politicians from the region.
Shapiro said he dubbed it “The Lightning Plan” in honor of Benjamin Franklin’s kite-in-a-thunderstorm experiment conducted in Philadelphia to demonstrate the connection between lightning and electricity and prove the latter could be discharged later.
The Montgomery County Democrat said his plan was common sense and would prepare the state for the future, adding that it “builds on the work my administration did last year to bring together leaders from the energy industry, organized labor and environmental groups, and consumer advocates to develop a plan for the future.”
If passed in the upcoming legislative budget process, Shapiro vowed to pull the state out of a regional effort to cap carbon emissions from the power sector: the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
In an interview with the Examiner after the press conference, Shapiro discussed Pennsylvania’s long history of being at the forefront of energy discovery and development, which has powered this country for centuries. He said he plans to continue Pennsylvania’s tradition as an energy producer in the Technology Revolution, which centers on the energy demand associated with running complex Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems.
When Col. Edwin L. Drake first struck oil in Cherrytree Township in Western Pennsylvania, America was about to enter the first Industrial Revolution. One big problem held it back: the need for cheap, clean, bright, and safe oil to illuminate factories.
Whale oil was among the oils available at the time, but it was mainly used to light the homes of the wealthy. Lard oil, tallow oil, and coal oil derived from shale were also available, but they were expensive. Without an inexpensive and reliable energy source, industrialization would have come to a standstill; no lights at night meant no work in the factories or open businesses in the cities.
That discovery in Cherrytree Township, Shapiro said, marked Pennsylvania’s early beginnings in the growth of the industrial age.
“Every revolution in American history, farming revolution, industrial revolution, the revolution that we’re in the midst of right now with AI technology, robotics, has required energy to power from Ben Franklin and his kite to the oil fields of Pennsylvania, the coal mines of Pennsylvania,” said Shapiro.
“We’ve powered those revolutions. Today in Pennsylvania, we’re poised to not only be the center of the universe when it comes to AI, but also the center of the universe when it comes to generating the power we need for that AI revolution,” Shapiro said.
The Pennsylvania governor said that, for the last decade or so, Pennsylvania has unfortunately been stalled by inaction on the energy and innovation front. He is ready for the state to be a major player in the booming AI industry.
“It’s time to move forward. That’s why instead of running to extremes, I brought everybody together, industry and labor, environmental groups and others,” he said.
Shapiro is open to other ideas, but no matter what, it is time to move forward.
“We placed our marker down with the lightning plan to say, this is how we power the next revolution,” he said. “This is how we can create 15,000 new jobs, and this is how we can have more freedom in Pennsylvania.”
Shapiro envisions natural gas-powered plants retrofitted while closed coal-fired power plants still dot the state to supplement the high energy demand needed for AI.
“Those plants can be returned to glory and freedom and opportunity and job creation if we embrace the natural gas that quite literally is underneath our feet right now. That’s why natural gas plays such a central role in my lightning plan,” he said.
“That’s why this AI revolution is so exciting because not only do we have the chance to create the energy, to generate the energy here in Pennsylvania, but then to actually do the work of the revolution here, especially in western Pennsylvania centered around Pitt, CMU and some of the great work that’s happening there,” he said adding it will also benefit rebuilding small communities.
“I think what’s really important for folks to understand is the intersection of these critical parts of our economy. How energy and AI work together, how life sciences and agriculture work together,” he said.
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Shapiro added one of the things many people don’t know is that the No. 1 purchaser of eggs from our poultry farmers in Pennsylvania is a life sciences company.
“So we have to connect all these different pieces of our economy together,” he said. “This lightning plan does just that.”