Reverends, retired professors and young activists filed into the hearing room at 1801 Market St. on Thursday to send PECO a message: Clean energy can't wait.
The energy provider, the largest in the state, is seeking approval from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission for its latest default service plan (DSP). The majority of PECO customers (77%) subscribe to this plan, which is revised every four years. As the utility acknowledges, its proposal "largely follows" its previous plan, and that's a problem for some customers, who say PECO must include a greater mix of renewable energy sources. Its proposal, just like the 2020 plan, sources 0.5% of the default service load from solar power.
"For every hundred dollars that PECO spends on energy, it plans to spend 50 cents on solar," Wendy Greenspan, a retired speech pathologist from South Philly, testified at the hearing. "That's what PECO did in its last DSP four years ago. That's what it plans to do in this DSP for the next four years.
"PECO has an extraordinary opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of its (1.7) million customers. Don't waste this opportunity."
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Greenspan is part of POWER Interfaith, one of several "energy justice advocate" groups intervening in the case before the PAPUC. She was also one of 46 people signed up to testify at the beginning of the April 18 hearing, though that number grew as more attendees trickled in — and staffers scrambled to roll out more seats. The hearing was the second and final opportunity for public testimony on PECO's proposal, following a teleconference the previous night. Greenspan said another 55 people attended that hearing, with 35 testifying.
Over the course of the lengthy Thursday meeting, where testimony was limited to a few minutes to accommodate all the speakers, PECO customers from Philadelphia and its surrounding counties expressed concern over the warming planet, long-term financial costs of reliance on fossil fuels and prevalence of asthma, which has been linked to air pollution. The childhood asthma rate in Philadelphia is 21%, more than double the national figure. And Pennsylvania lags behind nearly every state in renewable energy production.
PECO argues that its plan is designed to comply with Pennsylvania's laws, which require power companies to procure a "prudent mix" of short- and long-term contracts that result in "the least cost to customers over time." Buying more renewable power would contradict the "least cost" principle, the utility claims.
"We have to comply with our least cost obligation," said Brian Ahrens, senior communications specialist with PECO. "At the end of the day, that's really what it all comes down to."
Ahrens also emphasizes that the plan complies with another Pennsylvania law, the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act, which has gradually increased the minimum percentage of renewable energy suppliers must purchase since its passage in 2004. The current requirements for utilities like PECO are 0.5% solar power, which must be generated in Pennsylvania, and an overall 8% from renewable resources. A bill currently before the Pennsylvania House of Representatives would increase the renewable requirement to 30% by 2030, though its path to passage is unclear given the gridlocked legislature. Ahrens did not say whether PECO would be supportive of changes to the law.
Two legislators who could potentially vote on a new AEPS Act also testified at the hearing. State Sen. Nikil Saval and Rep. Christopher Rabb, both Democrats representing Philadelphia County, called on PECO to buy more renewable energy, pushing back on the argument that it is too costly to consumers.
"Renewable energy is affordable energy within the period of the current plan," Saval said. "We saw during Winter Storm Elliott in 2022, how an over-reliance on natural gas can lead to a spike in electricity prices."
As natural gas customers who weathered that storm will remember, the high winds and snow knocked out power for millions of customers along the East Coast and inflated electric bills. Saval and his supporters argue examples like these illustrate how renewable energy is cheaper in the long run. Years of growth and investment have also made renewable energy more affordable than ever — even cheaper, in many cases, than fossil fuels.
There are many months to go before the PAPUC will issue its final decision in October. But the concerned PECO customers who crowded the conference room last week say they can't wait another four years for a cleaner energy bill. Once approved, the plan will dictate PECO service from 2025 until 2029.
Avi Winokur, rabbi emeritus at Society Hill Synagogue, quoted the Czech statesman and poet Vaclav Havel in his testimony, a five-minute plea for drastic change.
"The salvation of this human world lies nowhere else but in the human heart and the human power to reflect, in the human meekness and in human responsibility," Winokur said. "Without a global revolution in the sphere of human consciousness, nothing will change for the better and the catastrophe toward which this world is headed, be it ecological, social, demographic or a general breakdown of civilization, will be unavoidable."