Elowyn Corby

The Commonwealth’s grid is stumbling under unprecedented strain – it’s time for lawmakers to act Pennsylvania families are getting hit twice: skyrocketing electric bills and record-breaking power outages. The recent release of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission’s 2024 Electric Service Reliability Report delivered a sobering wake-up call: 2024 was the worst year for power outages in over 30 years.

Solar panels in Damariscotta, Maine. (Photo by Evan Houk/ Maine Morning Star) Pennsylvania is in a race against time: can we bring enough new energy onto the grid to meet our region’s growing power demand (primarily fueled by new data centers, both speculative and real) in time to avoid dramatic spikes in the cost of energy paralleling the destabilization of our energy grid?

As we reflect on our collective responsibility to protect the planet this Earth Day, New Jersey stands at a critical crossroads. Our communities are already facing the costly consequences of climate change — higher temperatures, stronger storms, increased flooding and rising sea levels. From beach erosion along the Shore to repeated flooding in inland towns, the impacts are no longer abstract or distant. They’re here. And they’re expensive.